Bill Brandon: Food & Attitude

New old ideas about heart attacks

Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:12:59 GMT

Studies show that aggressive treatment may not prevent heart attacks.

An article in tomorrow's New York Times says that treatments like bypass surgery, angioplasty, and stents may be doing little or nothing to prevent heart attacks. Apparently most heart attacks do not originate with obstructed arteries.

What's the answer if you're at high risk? Go with the boring old advice — stop smoking, change your eating habits, and take drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. This is thought-provoking, and worth a read or discussing with your doctor.

[New York Times]

Supersize Me

Sun, 25 Jan 2004 17:22:20 GMT

Don't Try This At Home: Supersize Me!

Just in case you thought fast food is harmless, check out this article.

"Morgan Spurlock decided to become a gastronomical guinea pig. His mission: To eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's and document the impact on his health.

Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds.

Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated.

"It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post.

His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression. "

[New York Post]

Sleep and problem solving

Sat, 24 Jan 2004 05:41:47 GMT

Got a Tough Problem? Sleep on It!

BBC Science -- Scientists say that they have shown how the brain can crack complex mental puzzles while its owner is sleeping. Research at Luebeck university, in Germany, says tests on 106 volunteers back up anecdotal evidence that a good night's sleep can help solve problems. The volunteers were shown a number puzzle in which was embedded a "hidden code" revealing the answer, the journal Nature reports. Those kept awake overnight reportedly had far less chance of solving it. The scientists believe that because the brain appears to restructure information from the previous day during sleep hours, a period of sleep may produce insight into problems such as these. Other experts say it is the first hard evidence that creativity and problem-solving may be assisted by the activity of the brain during sleep. Dr Jan Born, who led the study, said: "This restructuring might be occurring in such a way that the problem is easier to solve." He highlighted a period of sleep called slow-wave sleep - a deep sleep not thought to be punctuated by dreams. Even small reductions in this sleep phase have been linked by other studies to a decrease in memory function, and in decreasing ability to recognise "hidden structures". Their 106 volunteers were all given a quick look at a test that involved sorting numbers based on a couple of set rules. However, underlying these rules was a third, "hidden" rule which, when spotted, dramatically simplified the completion of the puzzle. Some of the volunteers then got a full eight hours' sleep, while others had various degrees of sleep deprivation. The scientists then sat back to see which volunteers had a flash of inspiration and spotted the third rule and how quickly they managed it. Twice as many of the rested participants caught on to the rule than volunteers from the sleepless group. Dr Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health in the US, said that the study was important. (01/23/04)

[My World of “Ought to Be”]

Vitamins C and E protect from Alzheimer's

Thu, 22 Jan 2004 22:34:08 GMT

Vitamins E & C protect from Alzheimer's

BBC Health -- It may be possible to reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease by taking the right combination of vitamins, US research suggests. Scientists have found vitamins E and C may protect the ageing brain - but only if taken together. They both mop up destructive molecules, called free radicals, released by the body's metabolic processes. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland announced their findings in the journal Archives of Neurology. Brain cells, known as neurons, are thought to be particularly sensitive to damage caused by free radicals. Lead researcher Dr Peter Zandi said: "These results are extremely exciting. Our study suggests that the regular use of vitamin E in nutritional supplement doses, especially in combination with vitamin C, may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease." Dr Zandi's team examined data on 4,740 people aged 65 years or older. Of these 304 showed signs of Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 17% of the study participants reported taking vitamin E or C supplements. Another 20% used multivitamins, but without a high dosage of vitamin E or C. The researchers found that taking a combination of vitamin E and C seemed to have a protective effect. People taking both vitamins were 78% less likely to show signs of Alzheimer's than those not taking the combination. They found no benefit from taking either of the vitamins in isolation, or from taking multivitamins alone. ... Multivitamins typically contain the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E (22 IU or 15 mg) and vitamin C (75-90 mg), while individual supplements contain doses up to 1,000 IU of vitamin E and 500-1,000 mg or more of vitamin C. ... It was possible that it was simply a dosage effect - taking two vitamins instead of just one meant more was circulating around the body. However, he said: "There is also evidence of a synergistic effect between the activities of vitamin E and C. "Vitamin E is lipid-soluble and thus sticks around in fat tissues of the body a relatively long time. In contrast, vitamin C is water-soluble and is rapidly excreted from the body. Vitamin C may act to recharge the antioxidant capacities of vitamin E so that the vitamin E can continue doing its job of soaking up free radicals and reducing oxidative stress."

(01/21/04)[My World of “Ought to Be”]

Nutrition Information

Wed, 21 Jan 2004 18:54:58 GMT

Nutrition Information.

This powerpoint file introduces the nutrients, calorie value of the nutrients and basic nutrition.
Daily reference intakes are also presented. Pictures are included to emphasize malnutrition, overnutrition and undernutrition. via [Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) Newest]

Vitamin D protection against MS

Mon, 19 Jan 2004 16:20:20 GMT

Vitamin D may protect against MS.

You didn't see this on television news and you probably didn't notice it in your newspaper. Approximately 350,000 Americans have MS, so this is not an insignificant group.

The big drug companies pretty much control what you see and read, so it isn't surprising that a ten- to twenty-year study would get ignored -- especially if the results don't benefit the big drug companies. But that is just what is coming out of The Nurses Health Study. Click here to read one of the few accounts of this finding published in a newspaper.

"A huge study testing a long-held theory about the cause of multiple sclerosis has found that women who took a vitamin D supplement cut their risk of developing the incurable neurological disorder 40 percent. ... Vitamin D from food sources did not seem to lower the incidence of MS."

Take a good supplement, and don't take more than is in the supplement. Too much Vitamin D can be toxic. If you need the name of a good supplement, I can recommend one. Contact me through the mailto: link on this weblog.

Health-related news items

Mon, 29 Dec 2003 20:42:16 GMT

Health-Related News Items

Are You Hungry?

Raj Patel writes: During this season of goodwill, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, reminds us that not everyone will be eating well over the holidays. Its report on world hunger provides some dyspeptic reading. More than 840 million people worldwide will be going hungry this holiday season, and the report notes that "bluntly stated, the problem is not so much a lack of food as a lack of political will." "Political will" is a fairly murky term, though. There is no shortage of political will when it comes to agriculture, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere. Large agricultural corporations have been buying political will in Washington for decades. The majority of the 2002 farm bill's $180-billion appropriation is earmarked for corporations and wealthy landowners, in defiance of economic or good sense. As a direct result, family farms have gone bankrupt, farming communities have been devastated and poverty is eviscerating rural America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in November that 34.9 million citizens were hungry in 2002, 1.3 million more than the previous year. The rate of rural poverty is about one-third higher than urban poverty and since 2001 has been climbing. This at a time of an abundance of food and sufficient subsidies to bankroll agricultural corporations into the next decade. When the FAO talks of political will, it refers directly to a social commitment to ensure that the poorest people in society are able to eat. But it is a commitment that has eroded. This hurts rural communities most, not just in this nation but worldwide. In every country, the poorest people are those who live and work in agricultural communities. Policy that affects farming is necessarily policy that affects poverty. (12/29/03)

Obesity linked to Prostate Cancer

BBC Health -- Obese men diagnosed with prostate cancer may boost their chances of survival by losing weight, say experts. It follows two studies in the United States which found the disease hits obese men much harder than others. The studies involving more than 4,000 men found obese men suffered more aggressive forms of the disease and were more likely to suffer a relapse. Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers urged obese men with the disease to lose weight. In the first study, Dr Christopher Amling, who is based at the US Naval Medical Center in San Diego, examined data on 3,162 men with prostate cancer. Of these, 19% were obese. They found that obese men - with a body mass index score of 30 or more - had more aggressive forms of prostate cancer and a higher rate of recurrence. In the second study, Dr Stephen Freedland, who is based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, examined data from 1,106 men with the disease. Some 22% of these were obese. He found that men who were moderately or severely obese - with a body mass index of 35 or more - had more aggressive forms of the disease. They were also 60% more likely to have a recurrence of cancer compared with other men. Both doctors believe that the proteins and hormones in body fat may promote tumour growth in obese men. These men also have lower levels of testosterone and higher oestrogen levels, which they said may also help fuel the disease. (12/29/03)

Controlling Cancer with Cox-2 Inhibitors?

BBC Health -- Mice genetically altered to produce larger quantities of a chemical called COX-2 had faster-growing and spreading breast cancers. Drugs that "inhibit" COX-2 - from the aspirin family - could have a role fighting breast cancer, say experts. The research was carried out at the University of Connecticut, and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One of the key factors that allows a tumour to grow is whether it has sufficient blood supply to support its new size. Many tumours can harness chemical pathways that prompt the body to create a web of new blood vessels around the cancer, a process called angiogenesis. COX-2, and another chemical linked to it, called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), are already under suspicion for having a role in this process. If this role is proven, there are already drugs available which could interfere with this process, and perhaps improve the chances of patients with breast cancer, which has become the most common cancer in women in the UK. Dr Timothy Hla, who led the study, created a genetically modified mouse which produced more COX-2 in its breast tissue - in theory producing the perfect environment for a breast tumour to create the necessary blood vessels to allow growth. This was what they found - blood vessel density increased prior to visible tumour growth in the mouse breast tissue, and during progression, the density of the blood vessels increased at an exponential way. When drugs called COX-2 inhibitors - designed to interfere with the workings of this chemical - were added to the mix, tumour growth slowed and blood vessel density decreased, pointing again to the role of COX-2 in the process. (12/29/03)

[My World of “Ought to Be”]

Health databases

Mon, 22 Dec 2003 15:21:39 GMT

Databases are the key to understanding long-term health issues.

Mayo Amasses Mounds of Data. The Mayo Clinic and IBM are about to activate a giant database containing records from more than 4 million patients spanning more than five years. By David Snow. [Wired News]

Children and food choices

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 02:54:03 GMT

Well, ok, to be fair to the kids ...

It's lunchtime. Do you know where your dean is?

Mine's a pint!. I am proud to be a part of a university that officially endorses beer drinking, reaffirming that age-old association between higher education and alcohol. Old Joe's Winter Warmer, will be available at the university's staff bar over Christmas for £2.15 a pint. So see you there then, the first round's on me! Pictured is our leader and Vice Chancellor Michael Sterling. Hic, hic, hooray! [David Davies' Weblog]

Children and food choices

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 02:50:53 GMT

It's lunchtime. Do you know where your kids are?

With the recent attention to what children in the US are eating these days, and the problems their choices create for their health, this clip from Weblogg-ed News seems very timely.

Poor Choices. This is totally un-Web log related, but just too funny to not share. The following is a piece of an e-mail that our principal received yesterday:

"Dear Ms. Brady,
I discovered that I could receive an accounting of what my son was purchasing for lunch each day. When I received it I was very disappointed to learn that of $200 on his account he spent approx. $17 on Little Debbie cakes, $20 on French Fries, $49 on Soda (Gatorade), $12 on ice cream, $27 on pizza, $10 on pretzels & candy and $57 on lunch. As a result he owes me $143 for his poor choices..."

Sheesh. Now that's what I call brain food... [Weblogg-ed News]

HBE is back

Wed, 10 Dec 2003 23:24:10 GMT

The Home-Based Entrepreneur is back.

I regret that my absence was longer than intended. My father, who had been ill for the last three years, took a turn for the worse in November. He passed away November 19. I am getting back to normal (kind of) and should be posting more frequently from this point onward.

Bill

(This note was posted December 10. For some reason, Radio insists on dating it November 10.)

Home-based entrepreneur on hiatus til November 15

Mon, 10 Nov 2003 20:24:13 GMT

Next post here will be on Saturday, November 15.

I am at the eLearning Guild "eLearning Producer" conference in San Francisco for the rest of the week. I may be weblogging the experience at http://egconf2003.blogspot.com, time and technology permitting. Radio only runs on my desktop, I refuse to buy a laptop just to look cool on my one or two trips each year, so I will check in either via my Psion 5MX or from the nearest Internet cafe.

Exercise benefits arthritis sufferers

Fri, 26 Sep 2003 05:36:54 GMT

Exercise Key to Controlling Arthritis
This is something all sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis should have already been told by their physicians. If not then here is the info. Exercise has long been a treatment for any arthritis sufferer.

Exercise Benefits Rheumatoid Arthritis Sufferers (HealthDay). HealthDay - THURSDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDayNews) --Regular, intensive exercise for patients with rheumatoid arthritis builds muscle strength and aerobic capacity, improves the ability to do daily tasks and fosters a sense of emotional well-being. [Yahoo! News - Health]

[Ramblings of a Healthcare Professional]

Reliable Doctor-Produced Health and Medical Information via RSS

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 02:21:18 GMT

Reliable Doctor-Produced Health and Medical Information via RSS Syndication.

MedicineNet.Com unveils over 1000 new fabulous totally not-funky RSS 2.0 feeds. Very nice. Thanks! Via LibraryStuff. [Scripting News]

"We offer five types of health and medical RSS feed channels.

Daily Health and Medical News Channel (updated nightly Monday through Friday)
Weekly Health and Medical News Digest Channel (compilation of the previous week's daily health and medical news - updated every Friday night)
MedTerms Medical Word of the Day Channel (a medical definition from our medical dictionary - updated daily, 7 days a week)
Specialty Channels (specific, over 1,000 available - for example the Acne Specialty Channel) and
General Channels (broad, 35 available - for example the Skin General Channel)

Specialty Health and Medical Channels (specific disease, procedure, or medication)
There are over 1,000 specialty health and medical channels to choose from. These include diseases and conditions, medical procedures, and medications. ... For example you can subscribe to the Psoriatic Arthritis Specialty Channel. When articles related to this specific topic are updated or added on MedicineNet.com, the channel will be updated accordingly. This process occurs nightly.

General Health and Medical Channels (broad medical and health topics)
We currently cover 35 General Health and Medical Channels. A collection of specialty articles typically make-up a general channel. For example our Arthritis General Channel includes over 250 arthritis related articles such as Osteoarthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis. Below is a listing of available general channels. "

A complete list of all the channels and feeds is on the site.

May your days be long and stressful.

Tue, 23 Sep 2003 00:13:23 GMT

May Your Days Be Long and Stressful.

To many, the good life may be lying on a hammock strung between palm trees, sipping a long cool drink, doing nothing, planning nothing, worrying about nothing.

But the latest scientific research offers more evidence that this version of the the good life and good health may not be the same thing.

[NY Times]

Looking for acne treatment products that won't quit?

Tue, 09 Sep 2003 05:05:02 GMT

"Do ALL Acne Treatment Products Stop Working After A While?"

The answer is definitely ... NO! To find out why, see our latest article, "Are There Any Acne Treatment Products That Keep Working And Don't Quit?"

Another Reason to Eat Your Broccoli.

Sat, 06 Sep 2003 20:25:30 GMT

More Evidence That Broccoli Fights Cancer.

Broccoli and broccoli sprouts contain a chemical that kills the bacteria responsible for most stomach cancer, say researchers, confirming the dietary advice that moms have been handing out for years.

In laboratory tests the chemical, sulforaphane, killed helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that causes stomach ulcers and often fatal stomach cancers.

And the good news is there appears to be enough of it in broccoli sprouts and some varieties of broccoli to benefit people who eat the vegetables.

[MSN Digestive Health and Wellness]

Broccoli and cruciform vegetables also contain high levels of specific antioxidants and minerals that may be beneficial in improving resistance to cancer, if not actually curing it.

Stress, Success and Smoking Cessation.

Sat, 06 Sep 2003 18:32:19 GMT

Stress and Smoking

BBC Health -- People who smoke because they are stressed are less likely to be able to quit than other smokers. Researchers found smokers wrongly think cigarettes will help relieve stress. In fact, smoking exacerbates stressful feelings, exerts told the British Psychological Society conference in Stoke-on Trent. They said counsellors helping smokers quit should tackle the causes of stress and offer other ways of coping with problems. Researchers from Hillingdon Hospital in north-west London followed 550 smokers on a seven week cessation programme. The smokers received a combination of nicotine replacement therapy and group counselling. People were then followed up four weeks after the programme ended to see if they had successfully quit smoking. Dr Christina Chryssanthopoulou, who led the study, told BBC News Online: "We found that those people who used smoking as a way of dealing with stress were not as successful at stopping as people who didn't." She added: "Stress is one of the most important reasons people smoke. "Most smokers report that even when they give up successfully, one of the most important causes of relapse is stress." (09/05/03)

[My World of "Ought To Be"]

When I successfully returned to life as it was before my addiction to nicotine (twenty years ago), there were two factors that allowed me to succeed where previous attempts had failed. One was temporary nicotine replacement with Nicorette gum. The other was adopting the attitude that I was regaining full use of my senses -- the ability to see, taste, and smell to the fullest extent of my senses, without a film of nicotine, tar, filth, and pollution getting in the way. I was in fact one of the people who used smoking - wrongly - as a means of dealing with stress. It took a re-framing (though I didn't know at the time that was what I was doing) to get things set right.

Weight loss personal trainers for type 2 diabetics.

Thu, 04 Sep 2003 21:27:23 GMT

Weight loss "personal trainers".

According to the September, 2003 issue of Pulse, nutritionists and dieting experts in Houston are providing overweight diabetics with free personal training to shed the extra pounds in hopes of studying the long-term effects of weight loss on their health.

This is part of a National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial that is producing substantial weight loss results among participants at Baylor College of Medicine. Other participants in the 11-year study are receiving long-term diabetes education and counseling at no cost. Apparently, nationwide the candidates for the program are ages 55 to 75, with Type 2 diabetes.

For more information, call (713) 798-5769.

[Pulse: Monitoring the beat of the North Texas Health Care Industry]

Let's Get Rich Together

Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:37:24 GMT

Announcement.

This Weblog is being reorganized.

If you are interested in building your own business and operating it from home, this is where you can get tips, best practices, and news you can use.

I promise not to waste your time.

Subscribers will not be bombarded with ten daily posts (unless there are ten things worth your attention to report). The categories are also being reorganized, to allow for subscription to only those sections of interest to you. Comments and Trackback have been disabled, since the spammers have already moved from clogging e-mail with millions of net jamming junk messages to inserting their ugly effluvia into weblog comments and using Trackback to link the unsuspecting to porn sites and shady solicitations. Email sent to me via the Userland service from this weblog goes to a "throwaway" address, so be patient -- I do still check that address for legitimate communications.

Let's get rich together.

Chocolate Lovers, Rejoice!

Sat, 30 Aug 2003 22:59:18 GMT

Dark Chocolate Is Good For You.

Researchers in Scotland and Italy have found that dark chocolate raises antioxidant levels in the blood by 20%. This means that dark chocolate may help to protect against heart disease and even cancer. However, the researchers were quick to point out that dark chocolate is not an acceptable substitute for five servings of fruit and vegetables daily.

Milk chocolate has a much lower effect, and drinking milk with dark chocolate also results in a lower increase in antioxidant levels. Volunteers had to eat twice as much milk chocolate as dark chocolate in order to obtain the same rise in antioxidant levels. The findings suggest that the protein in the milk binds the antioxidants, keeping them out of the blood and out of the body's tissues. Milk may have a similar effect on other antioxidants, such as the ones in fruit, tea, and red wine.

[BBC News - Health]

Wed, 27 Aug 2003 19:00:45 GMT

Vitamin A derivative could prevent lung cancer.

Quitting smoking is a good thing to do, but the genetic damage smoking causes can continue to raise the risk of lung cancer for years afterward. A new drug derived from Vitamin A shows promise in undoing the genetic damage. [BBC Science]

Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:03:42 GMT

Understanding the benefits of red wine.

The study cited applies only, at this point, to yeast and to worms and flies, but resveratrol (a polyphenol found in red wine) seems to act to extend life span. Long term studies are underway in primates -- stay tuned. And in the meantime, make sure your diet and supplements include polyphenols!

"Scientists have suggested that resveratrol acts as an anti-oxidant, mopping up harmful free radicals that damage the cell. But Sinclair found the compound does not have strong antioxidant effects in yeast. 'The lifespan enhancing properties seem to depend more on SIR2 activation,' he says. Sinclair also believes this process is responsible for the human health benefits of drinking red wine."

UPDATE!!!

More facts from Harvard Medical School about how resveratrol works and its benefits.

Thu, 14 Aug 2003 04:32:58 GMT

Study: Vitamins C and E may cut children's heart risk.

New story posted in Announcements and Stories section.

This study goes perfectly with the LifePak clinical studies, which show reduced LDL “stickiness” after 6 weeks of LifePak use.

“Most important, LifePak significantly decreased LDL (low-density lipoprotein) oxidizability, as the lag time was prolonged (by 17 %; p £ 0.001), and oxidation rate was reduced (p £ 0.001) without changes with placebo treatment. LDL oxidizability is believed to be an important factor in cardiovascular health, because oxidized LDL tend to adhere to the inner arterial wall more than non-oxidized LDL that are protected by antioxidants.”

The complete LifePak clinical study data is available at: http://www.pharmanex.com/eHealth/articles/lifepak.shtml.

Wed, 06 Aug 2003 18:03:13 GMT

I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One.

Most clerks at natural foods stores may not be genuine health care practitioners. But according to a new study out of Canada, many recommend products with no proven benefits and potentially harmful side effects. By Kristen Philipkoski. [Wired News]

The information in this story is typical of my experience in health food stores and at supplement stores in malls. When you buy there, be very aware that the clerks are often untrained. They may be sincere, but they may also be wrong. Use Supplement Watch to check things out before you buy. It's well worth the $14 to be able to read their reviews of specific products. And always talk to your health care provider before starting any supplement.