REPORTING POINT 12-04
HEALTH NEWS
“Live healthy...live well”
by Larry Kline
SWAPA Voice Mailbox 4337/email: livehealthy-livewell@cox.net
(Past issues of “Health News” are available on my son’s website, which includes a word search engine - just go to the site with your browser and insert the key word to find past articles: http://home.earthlink.net/~candace_ball/healtharticles/frameset.htm) – LK
FARM IS NOT FINE - it is important to eat fish regularly because of its heart-healthy omega-3 fats. Salmon has become very popular as a source of these beneficial fats.
A new study has found that farmed salmon has 16 times the amount of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) compared to wild salmon. PCBs are organic pollutants thought to promote health problems, including cancer. The toxins come from plastics, waste incinerators, leaky transformers, and insecticide residues. Quite common in our environment, they are found in many foods besides fish. These toxins are found in the food pellets that the fish farmers feed to the salmon. Wild salmon also has some PCBs, too, although not nearly in the levels found in farm salmon.
One study by Indiana University found levels of PCBs in farmed salmon with levels high enough to damage the brains of fetuses and infants according to standards of the EPA, which are tougher than the FDA standards.
Even if the PCBs do cause cancer, one estimate of the risk is one extra case of cancer per 100,000 regular consumers of farmed salmon over the course of a 70-year lifetime. Given those odds, the benefits of consuming this excellent protein source far outweigh the hazards. Alternatives to farmed salmon include Pacific cod, mahi-mahi, ocean perch, Pacific halibut, haddock, flounder, sole, most shellfish, and striped bass. Many of these fish are also good sources of omega-3 fats and are low in PCBs and mercury. Virtually all canned salmon is made from wild salmon.
Finally, the farmed fish industry has recently made improvements in fish chow and has promised more. The industry has promised to continue to improve the quality of the fish chow and minimize the toxins found in the fish feed. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 4/04, Men’s Health 11/03.
NUTRITIONAL QUIZ 13 - True or false: Brown sugar or raw sugar is no better for you than white.
Answer is below.
PUMP UP THE VOLUME – the current recommended vitamin E intake for those under 50 is just 15 mgs a day, but a Tufts University study says those over 50 who bump intake up to 200 mgs a day may be better able to fight off cataracts, heart problems, and Alzheimer’s disease. Men’s Health 11/03.
OBESITY INCREASES PROSTATE CANCER RISK – according to recent studies, and having it recur. The studies looked at men who already had localized prostate cancer. The researchers suggested that substances stored in body fat may promote tumor growth. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 3/04.
TWO QUICK FIXES FOR BACK PAIN – if you suffer from lower back pain, try taking your wallet out of your back pocket. Sitting on a thick billfold for long periods can put pressure on the sciatic nerve, the major nerve running through the buttocks.
Another possibility is that you may have one leg shorter than the other. Even a slight imbalance can cause the spine to curve to the short side when you walk or run. Eventually, the bend puts painful pressure on disks. A good tailor or physician can determine if this is your situation. If there is an imbalance, correct the problem with a Dr. Scholl’s type therapeutic insert or see a podiatrist for a custom-made orthotic. Men’s Health 11/03.
SPICE SLICES DIABETES RISK – a recently published international study has found that cinnamon may be a possible treatment for diabetes. A daily teaspoon or two of ground cinnamon (in capsule form) was shown to lower blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol levels, and prevented insulin spikes in subjects with Type 2 diabetes. Even half a teaspoon (1 gram) of cinnamon was effective, at least in the short-term.
Like other spices and herbs, cinnamon contains powerful antioxidants that may help protect the cells from free radical damage. Other studies have indicated that many culinary herbs and spices tend to have more antioxidant power than such herbs as ginkgo or feverfew. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 4/04.
THE BENNIES OF GOOD CARDIO HEALTH – a fit, athletic person with a resting heart rate (RHR) of 52 beats per minute will have about 850 million heartbeats between the ages of 30 and 60 – which include 3 hours per week at the peak exercise rate. An inactive person with a RHR of 72 might achieve 1.1 billion beat during the same 30-year span – an extra 250 million beats which could cut the lifespan by a decade.
Over the long term, exercise can slow the RHR by as many as 20 beats per minute. To get an accurate RHR, take your pulse in the morning while still lying in bed. If your heart rate is over 60, it is time to begin an aerobic exercise program. Men’s Health 11/03.
NUTRITIONAL QUIZ ANSWER: True. It is all sucrose – pure empty calories. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 6/03.
BETTER PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING NEEDED – a recent study has indicated that prostate cancer may be present even among patients with normal scores on the PSA test. Most physicians agree that a PSA score above 4 may indicate cancer. However, the PSA-analysis study found cancers in 15% of those with PSA levels below 4, according to research in the New England Journal of Medicine. The risk of prostate cancer rose with increasing PSA levels.
The study’s author noted that the PSA test gives doctors few clues about which cancers will ever threaten a man’s life. High scores can be caused by many conditions, from cancer to infections or a benign swelling of the prostate gland that is common in older men.
Many of the prostate tumors found early are often slow growing and are not life threatening. Autopsy studies have found that nearly 30% of men in their 30s and 40s have prostate cancer, although they may not know it. About two-thirds of men in the 60s and 70s may have the disease.
Critics note that the PSA misses some early cancers. Earlier studies found cancers in more than 20% of men with PSA scores of 2.5 to 4. Even 17% of those with a PSA score of 1.0 or less have early prostate cancer.
Some medical experts say such findings illustrate the need for more aggressive screening and treatment. One medical group has suggested biopsies for men with PSA scores above 2.5. Other health professionals say there is no “magic” cutoff point that is completely free of risk or above that requires a biopsy.
In the meantime, be sure to have a PSA test to establish a baseline reference. Discuss the results with your physician, who will include your family history and other risk factors. There is also a cPSA test (complexed) PSA or percent-free PSA) that identifies more specifically PSA levels due to cancer. USA Today 5/27/04, Men’s Health 5/03.
OUTGROW YOUR ALLERGY – if peanuts were a childhood allergy, perhaps it may be time to be retested as an adult. According to Johns Hopkins University research, many people outgrow peanut allergies as they mature. In the university study, over half of the test subjects had completely outgrown the allergy.
A small snack of peanuts per day, especially the dry roasted type, have been shown to lower triglycerides levels by as much as 24 %, without causing weight gain. Men’s Health 11/03.
MEN VS WOMEN – HEART DISEASE – every year a quarter of a million women die of heart disease, more than the total number killed by breast cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s combined – making it the number one killer of women in America, as well as men.
From an anatomical point of view, a woman’s heart is no different from a man’s: four chambers and several ounces of muscle tissue. But the symptoms of heart disease in men and women can appear very differently. Men typically experience difficulty breathing and have chest pains that can travel up to the jaw and down the arm. Many women feel no chest sensation at all, and their symptoms are often subtle: a feeling of fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, or indigestion, back or abdominal pain, or just an odd, ill feeling.
Both men and women accumulate plaque, a buildup of fat on vessel walls, which can cause dangerous clogs in blood flow and lead to heart attack or stroke. But women often distribute these deposits in a more diffuse manner than men; instead of gathering in clumps or bulges, the plaque is spread more evenly along the vessel lining. This distinction may help explain the striking variations in the way men and women with heart disease are treated. Diagnostic tests look for blockages, but clear-cut vessel clogs don’t show up in one-third of women who have heart attacks.
Health-conscious women will know their risk factors and may be able to avoid heart disease. Genetic and family history increases the odds of the disease. Women generally will show signs of heart disease in their late 50s or their 60s, about 10 years later than their male counterparts. Most risk factors are gender blind; smoking and inactivity are the worst contributors to the disease.
Also adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease, but one-third of Americans are unaware that they are diabetic. Heart disease is also 69 percent higher in African-American women than in whites. It is estimated that unhealthy habits account for up to 82 percent of heart disease in women, which puts lifestyle interventions at the top of the list for preventive measures. This list would include stop smoking, at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week, consuming lots of fruit and vegetables and monitoring blood pressure (should be less than 120 over 80), HDL, “good” cholesterol, should be above 50, LDL cholesterol below 100.
The American Heart Association has also recommended against hormone-replacement therapy. Estrogen was prescribed to protect young women’s hearts, which is why HRT was prescribed to postmenopausal women. But the landmark Women’s Health Initiative study found that estrogen and progestin actually increased the incidence of heart disease and stroke. Newer data from a trial of estrogen alone has found no heart benefit whatsoever. HRT should not be taken solely for the purpose of preventing heart disease. Newsweek 5/10/04.
CT SCAN UPDATE – in May’s issue of Reporting Point, we analyzed CT imaging, as it is being marketed directly to consumers. There are two main types of scanners being used, the multislice CT (multidetector CT), and the older electron-beam CT. The electron-beam CT is great for visualizing the heart and coronaries alone, but the multislice CT does a better job at analyzing the rest of the organs.
The best technique, used in university hospital radiology departments, employs IV contrast, in which a dye is injected or ingested to highlight the difference between normal and abnormal tissues, making problems easier to identify. Without an IV contrast, small cancerous tumors may go undetected.
Finally, who analyzes the images is critical. Some centers use retired radiologists or ship the images to the lowest bidder for evaluation. One chain uses physician’s assistants. Insist that a board-certified radiologist read the scan.
The EBCT exam of the colon is also not recommended. If any abnormalities or polyps are discovered, a conventional colonoscopy is required, where a polyp may be removed during the procedure. The CT scan only detects about half of the tiny precancerous polyps that the traditional procedure detects. While there is no risk of colon puncture with the CT scan (a 1-in-1600 chance with a colonoscopy), the CT scan’s deficiency at detecting smaller tumors is significant, considering that colon cancer is 90% curable if caught early. The prep work for a virtual colonoscopy is identical to that of the conventional colonoscopy, so many health professionals are recommending against the CT scan of the colon in favor of the slightly invasive colonoscopy. Men’s Health 11/03.
KNEE-PAIN BASICS – sooner or later, if you are active, you will do something to traumatize your knee. Here is a very basic way to analyze the potential damage:
Symptom: you hear a pop and sense that something has snapped. The knee swells within 2 hours, there is intense pain, and the leg buckles if you try to put weight on it. This could likely be a stretched or torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of the two ligaments that form an “X” within the joint. A complete tear usually means surgery and 4 to 6 months of rehabilitation. For a sprain (the ligament is stretched, but not torn), it will take 4 to 12 weeks of rehabilitation, depending of the severity of the injury.
Symptom: the knee clicks, sometimes locks, hurts on stairs, and really hurts when you get up from a low chair. This could likely be a torn or worn-down meniscus, a cartilage pad in the knee joint. A worn-down meniscus can lose shock absorption. When it is damaged in an injury, pieces can get caught between bones, causing the clicking sound or causing the bones to lock in place. Small tears can sometimes repair themselves with 4 to 6 weeks of physical therapy. Larger tears can be repaired surgically, meaning 4 weeks on crutches and perhaps several weeks of rehab.
Symptom: the front of the knee hurts, and it is especially tender just below the kneecap. Climbing stairs and getting up from a chair both hurt. This could be patellar tendonitis, also called “jumper’s knee”, caused by overuse. It affects the tendon that connects the kneecap to the shinbone. If you experience knee pain while exercising, it is likely to result in tendonitis. Rest, strength and flexibility exercises, and a support worn below the knee seem to help.
Symptom: pain on the front of the knee, under or around the kneecap that becomes worse when lunging or squatting or after sitting for a long time.
This pain could be patellofemoral syndrome, also known as “runner’s knee.” Tight tendons, such as the band on the side of the leg or the muscles, especially the hamstrings, cause the kneecap to slip off track and grind against the thighbone. Untreated, this can damage the cartilage protecting the joint and may lead to osteoarthritis. Most doctors will recommend strength exercises targeting the innermost part of the quadriceps, which is usually weaker than the outer quadricep muscles, stretching, especially the hamstrings, and regular doses of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplements for cartilage repair. Men’s Health 11/03.
