Health News

REPORTING POINT 08/08
HEALTH NEWS
“Live healthy...Live well”
Dedicated to providing pertinent information on health, fitness, and nutrition to foster a culture of wellness among Southwest Airlines flight crews and their families.
by Larry Kline
SWAPA Voice Mailbox 4337/email: livehealthy-livewell@cox.net
Past issues of “Health News” are available at http://health.theballfamily.org. It includes a search engine; just enter a key word to find past articles. LK

MILK DOES A BODY GOOD… - British researchers found that drinking milk reduces the risk of developing metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions that doubles the risk of a heart attack. After tracking the diets of over 2,000 test subjects for over 20 years, scientists determined that those who drank at least 16 ounces of milk a day were 60 percent less likely to develop the syndrome than those who drank less. The effect is due to several factors, including calcium’s impact on blood pressure and the fatty acids in milk can help make LDL particles less likely to damage arteries. Be sure to opt for the nonfat variety to reap healthy benefits. Men’s Health 11/07.

GREAT GRAPES – a cup of red or green grapes has only 100 calories with only 60 calories in a cup of Concord grapes.
Two reports suggest that substances called anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, which give Concord grape juice its rich color, may help slow the growth of breast cancer tumors and may help prevent short-term memory loss.
Animal studies indicate antioxidants called polyphenols in grapes protect insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and may help to prevent type 1 diabetes.
Finally, compounds found in rapeseeds may offer protection against sun-related skin cancer. Health 9/07.

WEAK SHOULDER DANGER – even the most basic exercises can result in injury if you have weak shoulders. Researchers at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point found that 14 percent of traumatic shoulder injuries occurred while recruits were doing pushups and pull-ups. These injuries were a result of poor shoulder stability.
To protect the shoulders, try this routine once a week: at the end of your workout, do two or three sets of pushups with your hands on a Swiss ball to strengthen and stabilize the shoulder joints – try 15 reps per set. Men’s Health 11/07.

NEEDLE PHOBIA? – British doctors have a solution for taking the sting out of an injection – coughing. After reviewing published studies and their own clinical experiences, the researchers reported that coughing just as a needle touches your skin reduces pain more than other techniques (which included numbing the area with cold packs or sprays.) Coughing may “distract” the nerves that carry pain signals or temporarily raise blood pressure, another phenomenon known to blunt pain. It is reported that one in 10 adults and nearly all children are afraid of needles. Health 7/04.

ANTIOXIDANT PILLS – many people take vitamins for the antioxidants, hoping for better health and less risk of diseases. However, a review of scientific evidence by the respected Cochrane Collaboration, an international volunteer network of scientists, concludes that this might be a waste of money, and in some cases, even may shorten life.
The Cochrane scientists reviewed 67 trials in which 232,000 total volunteers were randomly assigned to take an antioxidant supplement (beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E or selenium), a sugar pill, or nothing. In some studies, the volunteers were healthy; in others, they were not.
Participants assigned to take beta-carotene, vitamin A, or vitamin E were significantly more likely to die sooner rather than later, according to the review. The trials found neither harm nor benefit from taking vitamin C or selenium. The scientists concluded that the current evidence does not support the use of antioxidant supplements in the general population or in patients with certain diseases. USA Today 4/24/08.
It is important to remember that many vitamins work in concert with other vitamins. Taking mega-doses of one vitamin probably will not yield the desired results and in some cases, high intake levels of certain vitamins may have a toxic effect on the body.
It is always better to consume foods that are vitamin-rich rather than depend on supplements to improve a poor diet – LK).


DECIDING BETWEEN THREE PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENTS – a study about the side effects of prostate cancer therapy could help men select the best way to fight their disease. The report in the New England Journal of Medicine gives realistic expectations and side effects to the three main prostate cancer treatments.
Prostate cancer treatment is not one size fits all and needs to be individualized. Physicians are likely to use this study to counsel patients and hopefully discuss with the patient, the options and side effects of each.
Doctors found that each of the three main types of therapy – surgery, radiation, and radioactive seed implants – causes different problems. Sexual function suffered the most after any treatment, although surgery caused the greatest damage. Bowel problems were the greatest after radiation. Urinary irritation was worst after radioactive seeds. Men who received hormone therapy in addition to radiation or radioactive seeds were even more likely to report sexual problems. Side effects of hormone therapy lasted up to two years, even though patients were treated for less than one year.
But researchers found that surgery also relieved some common symptoms of aging, such as the urinary irritation and obstruction caused by benign prostate swelling. The study shows urinary problems were more bothersome to men than any other side effect besides sexual function. The report indicates that, on average, men were no more depressed after treatment than before with relatively few reporting a loss of energy.
Although many problems peak in the first few months after surgery, many of those side effects diminish over the two years that the researchers followed the patients. The study’s authors indicate that men and their wives feel better prepared for life after treatment if they know what they are likely to experience. USA Today 3/20/08.


PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT SIDE EFFECTS

Sexual problems Urinary problems Bowel problems

Before surgery 12% 11% 1%

2 Yrs. After surgery 43% 7% 1%


Before radiation 18% 11% 3%

2 Yrs. after radiation 37% 11% 11%


Before radioactive seeds 18% 8% 2%

2 Yrs. after radioactive
seeds 30% 16% 8%


COFFEE-CHOLESTEROL CONNECTION – if you have high cholesterol, could your morning cup of coffee be at least partly to blame? Perhaps, depending on how it is brewed and how much you drink. Most research has found no increase in blood cholesterol or cardiovascular disease risk from coffee drinking in general. But since the mid-1980’s, studies have consistently linked unfiltered coffee to increases in cholesterol. Much of the evidence comes from Scandinavia, where coffee typically is made by boiling the grounds in hot water and is not filtered compared to American-style “drip” coffee in which the coffee grounds come in contact with hot water only briefly before passing through a paper filter. Espresso and French-press coffee, increasingly popular in the U.S., have also been implicated in raising cholesterol.
Diterpene compounds in coffee beans are responsible for the cholesterol-raising effect. The longer the coffee grounds come in contact with the brewing water, and the hotter the water, the greater the amount of diterpenes that will be released. Scandinavian-style boiled coffee has the most diterpenes, followed by Turkish/Greek coffee, French-press (plunger-pot) coffee, and then espresso. Drip coffee has virtually none because the paper filters trap the compounds. Percolated and instant coffees also have negligible amounts. Robusta coffee beans contain lower amounts of diterpenes than Arabica beans, the most common kind. Decaffeinating coffee does not reduce diterpenes.
Still it takes a fair amount of unfiltered coffee to have a significant effect on cholesterol. Studies have shown that, when consumed daily, 10 milligrams of diterpene – the amount in about four 5-ounce cups of French-press coffee – raises cholesterol by 6 to 10 percent in four weeks, mostly due to increases LDL (bad) cholesterol. Researchers theorize that diterpene sends a signal from the intestines to the liver to stop cholesterol breakdown. Some people may be affected more than others, and the effects may be greater in those who have higher cholesterol levels naturally.
All coffee, no matter how it is brewed, contains a complex mix of phytochemicals, many of which are potentially beneficial. In fact, coffee is the No. 1 source of antioxidants in the U.S. diet, because Americans consume so much coffee. Both filtered and unfiltered coffee have been shown to guard against oxidation of LDL cholesterol and thus may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. Some components in diterpene may even have some anti-cancer properties according to lab studies. Coffee has also been linked to reduced risk of diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
An occasional cup of unfiltered coffee won’t raise cholesterol levels significantly, if at all. But you may be consuming more than you realize if you go to Starbucks and other such cafes. Many coffee drinks – cappuccinos or lattes – are made with espresso, sometimes with more than one shot. If your cholesterol is high, you may consider limiting coffee consumption. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 2/08.

A FEW SIMPLE HEALTH HABITS – the Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases stated that, “…despite all the money we spend on health care in the USA, some Americans are living shorter lives than just a decade ago, largely due to poor health behaviors and lifestyle choices.
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. In many instances, deaths resulting from common chronic illnesses associated with poor health behaviors could be avoided.
According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80 percent of cases of heart disease or stroke, 80 percent of cases of diabetes, and about 40 percent of cases of cancer could be prevented if Americans do three things:
-Stop smoking
-Exercise regularly
-Eat a balanced diet. USA Today 4/25/08.

EXERCISE IS THE KEY – if you are very overweight, it is especially important to do aerobic exercise, even if it does not produce weight loss. Both obesity and physical inactivity increase the risk of chronic disease and premature death. But people who are fit (based on a treadmill test) live longer, on average, than those who are unfit, regardless of how overweight they are, according to a study of 2,600 people over 60 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In fact, “fat but fit” people had lower death rates than unfit normal weight or lean people. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 3/08.