Diabetes lower in tea drinkers worldwide

An article published online on November 7, 2012 in the journal BMJ Open reveals an association between black tea drinking and a lower incidence of diabetes around the world.

European researchers analyzed prevalence data from the World Health Organization for respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and independently collected sales data for black tea from 50 countries. Countries that sold the most black tea per person included Ireland, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Russia, and countries with the lowest concentration of black tea drinkers included South Korea, Brazil, China, Venezuela and Mexico.

The researchers observed an association between rising black tea consumption and a decline in diabetes. Black tea consumption was not correlated with the other four diseases. Further statistical analysis confirmed the association. While green tea contains catechins that have anti-inflammatory and other properties, the authors remark that the fermentation process that green tea undergoes to become black tea results in the formation of complex flavonoids known as theaflavins and thearubigins that provide additional health benefits.

“This innovative study establishes a linear statistical correlation between high black tea consumption and low diabetes prevalence in the world,” Ariel Beresniak and colleagues write. “These results are consistent with biological and physiological studies conducted on the effect of black tea on diabetes and confirm the results of a previous ecological study in Europe.”

Although an association does not establish causality, the results strongly suggest the need for further investigation to explore the possible protective effects of tea drinking against one of the most devastating diseases of our time.

Marriage linked to better survival in middle age

New York | Heidelberg, 10 January 2013

Study highlights importance of social ties during midlife

 Could marriage, and associated companionship, be one key to a longer life? According to new research, not having a permanent partner, or spouse, during midlife is linked to a higher risk of premature death during those midlife years. The work, by Dr. Ilene Siegler and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center in the US, is published online in Springer’s journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

 Survival through middle age to become elderly is expected; therefore understanding who does not survive to become elderly and why is important. Siegler and colleagues looked at the effect of marriage history and timing of marriage on premature death during midlife. They were also interested in testing the role of pre-marital personality and quantifying the role of health behaviors.

 The researchers analyzed data for 4,802 individuals who took part in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) – an ongoing study of individuals born in the 1940s. The authors were particularly interested in stability and change in patterns of marital and non-marital status during midlife, controlling for personality at college entry (average age 18), socioeconomic status and health risk behaviors.

 They found that having a partner during middle age is protective against premature death: those who never married were more than twice as likely to die early than those who had been in a stable marriage throughout their adult life. Being single, or losing a partner without replacement, increased the risk of early death during middle age and reduced the likelihood that one would survive to be elderly.

Even when personality and risky behaviors were taken into account, marital status continued to have a major impact on survival.

 The authors conclude: “Our results suggest that attention to non-marital patterns of partnership is likely to become more important for these Baby Boomers. These patterns appear to provide different levels of emotional and functional social support, which has been shown to be related to mortality. Social ties during midlife are important to help us understand premature mortality.”

 Reference:

Siegler IC et al (2012). Consistency and timing of marital transitions and survival during midlife: the role of personality and health risk behaviors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine; DOI 10.1007/s12160-012-9457-3

 

Cognitive Benefit of Lifelong Bilingualism

Jan. 5, 2013 —

Seniors who have spoken two languages since childhood are faster than single-language speakers at switching from one task to another, according to a study published in the January 9 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Compared to their monolingual peers, lifelong bilinguals also show different patterns of brain activity when making the switch, the study found.

The findings suggest the value of regular stimulating mental activity across the lifetime. As people age, cognitive flexibility — the ability to adapt to unfamiliar or unexpected circumstances — and related “executive” functions decline.

Recent studies suggest lifelong bilingualism may reduce this decline — a boost that may stem from the experience of constantly switching between languages. However, how brain activity differs between older bilinguals and monolinguals was previously unclear.

In the current study, Brian T. Gold,PhD, and colleagues at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the brain activity of healthy bilingual seniors (ages 60-68) with that of healthy monolingual seniors as they completed a task that tested their cognitive flexibility. The researchers found that both groups performed the task accurately. However, bilingual seniors were faster at completing the task than their monolingual peers despite expending less energy in the frontal cortex — an area known to be involved in task switching.

“This study provides some of the first evidence of an association between a particular cognitively stimulating activity — in this case, speaking multiple languages on a daily basis — and brain function,” said John L. Woodard, PhD, an aging expert from Wayne State University, who was not involved with the study. “The authors provide clear evidence of a different pattern of neural functioning in bilingual versus monolingual individuals.”

The researchers also measured the brain activity of younger bilingual and monolingual adults while they performed the cognitive flexibility task.

Overall, the young adults were faster than the seniors at performing the task. Being bilingual did not affect task performance or brain activity in the young participants. In contrast, older bilinguals performed the task faster than their monolingual peers and expended less energy in the frontal parts of their brain.

“This suggests that bilingual seniors use their brains more efficiently than monolingual seniors,” Gold said. “Together, these results suggest that lifelong bilingualism may exert its strongest benefits on the functioning of frontal brain regions in aging.”

This research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Note: (soen)

The cortex of the brain is the outer layer about 1/8 inch thick. This layer contains the brain cells that really make you who you are. The lobe would include both the cortex and the white matter below or deep to the cortex. So the cortex is the outer layer only and the lobe would be the entire structure of cortex and white matter

The frontal lobes are one of the four main lobes or regions of the cerebral cortex. They are positioned at the front most region of the cerebral cortex (about above your eyes),basically they are involved in movement, decision-making, problem solving, and planning. There are three main divisions of the frontal lobes. They are the prefrontal cortex, the premotor area and the motor area. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for personality expression and the planning of complex cognitive behaviors. The premotor and motor areas of the frontal lobes contain nerves that control the execution of voluntary muscle movement.

 

JAMA meta-analysis confirms link between premature mortality and obesity

Tuesday, January 8, 2013.

The January 2, 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported the outcome of a meta-analysis conducted by researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville, Maryland, which reaffirmed the link between being obese and having a greater risk of dying from all causes over follow-up.

Katherine M. Flegal, PhD and her associates reviewed 97 studies that included a total of over 2.88 million individuals, among whom there were 270,000 deaths. Subjects were considered normal weight if their body mass index (BMI) was between 18.5 and less than 25, and those with a BMI between 25 and less than 30 were classified as overweight. (Body mass index is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.) Among those considered obese, a BMI ranging from 30 to less than 35 was classified as grade 1, a BMI of 35 to less than 40 was categorized as grade 2 and grade 4 was applied to subjects with a BMI of 40 or higher.

soen

Dr. Dean Ornish: On the world’s KILLER DIET: talk KILLER Food

Dean Michael Ornish, (born July 16, 1953), a native of Dallas, Texas, is a graduate of Hillcrest High School of the Dallas Independent School District. He holds a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin where he gave the baccalaureate address. He earned his M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine, was a Clinical Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and served a medical internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (1981–1984).

He is a physician and president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, as well as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco..

Dr. Ornish is known for his lifestyle-driven approach to the control of coronary artery disease (CAD) and other chronic diseases. Beginning in 1977, he directed a series of clinical research studies proving, for the first time, that comprehensive lifestyle changes could not only stop the progression of CAD, but could actually reverse it. These lifestyle changes included a whole foods, plant-based diet, smoking cessation, moderate exercise, stress management techniques including yoga and meditation, and psychosocial support. He has acknowledged his debt to Swami Satchidananda for helping him develop this holistic perspective on preventive health.

This landmark discovery was notable because it had seemed physiologically implausible, and it suggested cheaper and safer therapies against cardiovascular disease than invasive procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty, and stents.

Ornish also directed the first randomized controlled trial demonstrating that comprehensive lifestyle changes may slow, stop, or even reverse the progression of early-state prostate cancer. This study was done in collaboration with the Chairs of Urology at the time at UCSF (Peter Carroll) and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (William Fair).

In 1998, he published research showing that comprehensive lifestyle changes affect gene expression in only three months, “turning on” disease-preventing genes and “turning off” genes that promote cancer and heart disease, as well as increasing telomerase, an enzyme that lengthens telomeres, the ends of human chromosomes which control aging (in collaboration with Elizabeth Blackburn, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009).

He has been a physician consultant to former President Bill Clinton since 1993, when Ornish was first asked by Hillary Rodham Clinton to consult with the chefs at The White House, Camp David, and Air Force One to cook more healthfully. In 2010, after the former President’s cardiac bypass grafts became clogged, Ornish met with him and encouraged him to follow a mostly plant-based diet, since moderate changes in diet were not sufficient to stop the progression of his heart disease, and he agreed In contrast to Esselstyn, Ornish recommends the consumption of fish oil supplements and does not follow a strict vegetarian diet, allowing for the consumption of occasional animal products]

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Be A Healthy Woman! (part 1 of 4)

Be A Healthy Woman! (part 1 of 4) Gary Null’s breakthrough program for women shows comprehensive protocols for healthy living. This dramatic and uplifting overview helps women help themselves in body, mind and spirit. Gary covers a wide variety of health topics specifically to women.

Gary Michael Null (born 1945) was raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with his two brothers. He holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration as well as a Bachelor of Science Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey. He received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Union Institute & University, a private distance-learning college in Cincinnati, Ohio.[4] Null’s thesis was entitled “A Study of Psychological and Physiological Effects of Caffeine on Human Health.” His credentials and the rigor of his Ph.D. program were questioned by Stephen Barrett of Quack watch.[5] Null is a New York State Certified dietitian-nutritionist.

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Be A Healthy Woman! (part 2 of 4)

Be A Healthy Woman! (part 3 of 4)

 

Be A Healthy Woman! (part 4 of 4)

Be A Healthy Woman! (part 1 of 4) Gary Null’s breakthrough program for women shows comprehensive protocols for healthy living. This dramatic and uplifting overview helps women help themselves in body, mind and spirit. Gary covers a wide variety of health topics specifically to women.

 

Doubling Vitamin D Levels May Reduce Mortality Rate

 

Doubling Vitamin D Levels May Reduce Mortality Rate – Article

Contributors: iHealthTube, S.

 

Increasing serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the “most cost-effective way to reduce global mortality rates,” according to a new study. In a paper assessing the likely impact on mortality rates of doubling serum vitamin D levels from 54 to 110 nmol/L in six regions of the world, Dr. William B. Grant estimates it would increase life expectancy by two years across all six regions. “The predicted reduction in all-cause mortality rates ranges from 7.6 percent for African females to 17.3% for European females,” claimed Grant, who is a director at the San Francisco-based Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center and the author of several papers on vitamin D. His latest study, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, concludes: “Increasing serum 25(OH)D levels is the most cost-effective way to reduce global mortality rates, as the cost of vitamin D is very low and there are few adverse effects from oral intake or frequent moderate UVB irradiance with sufficient body surface area exposed.” While many policymakers might argue that the only reliable means of determining whether vitamin D reduced the risk of disease was via randomized controlled trials (RCTs), this was not the case, insisted Grant. “I believe that this restriction is unnecessary and is generally used to delay acceptance of more favorable policies for vitamin D and UV irradiance. Vitamin D is not a drug, for which RCTs would be required, but is instead a natural compound essential for optimal health. “Analysis of findings from traditional epidemiological approaches should supply enough information for informed decision making.” In order to increase vitamin D intakes, policymakers would first have to agree that society would benefit from higher levels, observed Grant. Meanwhile, last year’s controversial report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which said evidence linking vitamin D with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and autoimmune disorders was “inconsistent and inconclusive,” was also flawed, he claimed. “Unfortunately, federal sponsors directed the committee not to consider studies where vitamin D came from non-oral sources such as solar UVB irradiance and case control studies that measured serum 25(OH)D levels at the time of disease diagnosis. These two types of studies provide much of the stronger evidence for several diseases.” While our bodies manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during the winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are seen by many as the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D. Vitamin D-sensitive diseases that account for more than half of global mortality rates include cardiovascular disease, respiratory infections, respiratory diseases, tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus, according to Grant. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition;