Nathan Hurst, University of Missouri

Research suggests local policymakers should evaluate outdoor resources to encourage exercise

As youth obesity levels in America remain at record high levels, health professionals and policymakers continue to search for solutions to this national health issue. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Minnesota have found that local governments can help reduce youth obesity levels by increasing the amount and type of public lands available for recreation. Sonja Wilhelm Stanis, an associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, found that counties with more non-motorized nature trails and forest lands have higher levels of youth activity and lower youth obesity, while counties with more nature preserves have lower activity levels.

[ Watch the Video: Increased Access to Nature Trails, Forest Lands Could Decrease Youth Obesity Rates ]

“More non-motorized nature trails available for use by youth in a particular county lead to an increase in the physical activity rates as well as lower youth obesity rates,” Wilhelm Stanis said. “This was in contrast to counties with more nature preserves, which showed decreased levels of physical activity among youth, and parklands, which did not show any relationship with obesity levels and physical activity of youth. Overall, this research shows how local policymakers can impact the health of their youth through land-use decisions.”

Wilhelm Stanis, along with her co-authors Andrew Oftedal and Ingrid Schneider from the University of Minnesota, studied data from every county in the state of Minnesota, comparing youth activity rates and youth obesity rates to amount of public non-motorized nature trails, motorized nature trails, nature preserves, parklands and forest land. The researchers determined that increased access to non-motorized nature trails is associated with increased youth physical activity and lower levels of youth obesity, while increased access to nature preserves was associated with lower levels of physical activity. Public forest land was also associated with higher activity rates; the researchers did not find any relationship among parklands and activity or obesity rates.

“The finding that nature preserves tend to be linked with lower levels of physical activity isn’t surprising,” Wilhelm Stanis said. “Typically, patrons of preserves visit them to observe and appreciate nature, not necessarily to exercise, while non-motorized trails are used specifically to walk, run or bike. Nature preserves are a valuable resources for communities; however, this research shows the importance of diversifying the types of public lands available to community residents, especially in communities that struggle with high obesity rates among their youth.”

Wilhelm Stanis says it is important for local policymakers to evaluate their existing outdoor recreation resources to determine if they are maximizing the ability of community members to remain active. Wilhelm Stanis says her future research will examine specific qualities of outdoor recreation areas to determine which features, such as playgrounds, lakes or sports fields, lead to higher levels of physical activity.

This study was published in Preventative Medicine.

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Documents filed by lawyers representing the National Football League (NFL) acknowledge that at least one-fourth of players are likely to wind up suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or other cognitive impairments after their careers are over, various media outlets are reporting.
According to Reuters reporter Brendan O’Brien, the filing is a summary of the results of an actuarial study which it had commissioned. They were submitted to the US District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania on Friday as part of the league’s ongoing legal battle with retired players suffering medical problems associated with repeated blows to the head.
The report, which was compiled by the New York-based Segal Group at the NFL’s behest, concluded that 28 percent of the league’s “overall player population,” as well as one-third of the 5,000 retired players that are the plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit against the organization, will be diagnosed with cognitive impairments during their lifetime.
The chances of professional football players dealing these issues “are materially higher than those expected in the general population,” the lawyers’ summary of the research said, adding that the athletes will develop these diagnoses “at notably younger ages than the general population.” O’Brien said the study “appears to be the most definitive statement the NFL has yet made on the dangers of the sometimes violent sport.”
Likewise, Ken Belson of the New York Times said the documents are “the league’s most unvarnished admission yet that the sport’s professional participants sustain severe brain injuries at far higher rates than the general population,” and that the study’s results “appear to confirm what scientists have said for years: that playing football increases the risk of developing neurological conditions.”
The concussion and head-injury issues in professional football players have been well documented, though in June, in-depth neurological examinations of 45 retired NFL players between the ages of 30 and 60 reportedly found that chronic brain damage was less prevalent in the former athletes than previously believed.
That study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) along with comprehensive neuropsychological and neurological examinations, interviews, blood tests and APOE (apolipoprotein E) genotyping and found that while there were isolated impairments in 11 of the patients, none of the players suffered from dementia, dysarthria, Parkinson’s Disease or cerebellar dysfunction.
“Our results indicated that there were brain lesions and cognitive impairments in some of the players; however the majority of the individuals in our study had no clinical signs of chronic brain damage to the degree that has been noted in previous studies,” explained lead author Dr. Ira R. Casson, a neurologist at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, both located in New York.
However, the new statement filed on behalf of the league “clears up all the confusion and doubt manufactured over the years questioning the link between brain trauma and long-term neurological impairment,” Chris Nowinski, the executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute and a longtime advocate of research into sports-related brain trauma, told the New York Times on Friday. “We have come a long way since the days of outright denial.”
Nowinski added that the number of former players who are expected to develop dementia or similar cognitive ailments is “staggering,” adding that the total does not even account for ex-players who go on to develop mood and/or behavior disorders or die prior to developing the cognitive symptoms associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition that can only be identified during an autopsy.
Brad Karp, an attorney representing the NFL, told Belson that the actuaries based their research on the medical diagnoses reported by the former players who had filed the lawsuit, thus inflating the findings of the study. Karp also told Reuters that the Segal study is not a prediction of the number of players that will suffer such injuries, only to demonstrate that the league would have enough money to pay all claims if that many injuries did occur.
“In 2013, the NFL agreed to pay more than $760 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 former players who had sued the league, accusing it of hiding the dangers of brain injury while profiting from the sport’s violence,” O’Brien said. In June, the league lifted a $675 million cap on payments to former players, and commissioned the Segal Group report to ensure that the money set aside for the claims would be sufficient, he added.
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April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

According to Psychology Today, the practice of meditation began in the Indus Valley around 5,000 to 3,500 BCE. Since this time, most of the world’s major religions have adopted some form of meditation practice as part of their spiritual development.

Modern Western medicine has begun to investigate the health benefits — both mental and physical — of meditation and mindfulness practices. So far, it has been shown to affect gene expression, work as an effective stress relief mechanism, help with PTSD, and lower blood pressure, among others. A new study, led by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, now shows that mindfulness and meditation might also be the path to migraine relief.

“Stress is a well-known trigger for headaches and research supports the general benefits of mind/body interventions for migraines, but there hasn’t been much research to evaluate specific standardized meditation interventions,” said Rebecca Erwin Wells, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist.

To assess the safety, feasibility, and effects of a standardized meditation and yoga intervention known as mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) in adults with migraines, the researchers recruited 19 participants. The participants were separated into two groups: 10 received MBSR intervention, the remaining 9 received standard medical care. The MBSR patients attended eight weekly classes to learn the techniques, then instructed to practice 45 minutes on their own for at least five more days each week.

Using objective measures of disability, self-efficacy and mindfulness, the patients were assessed both before and after the trial period. They were also required to keep a headache journal throughout the study period, paying special attention to frequency, severity and duration of headaches.

“We found that the MBSR participants had trends of fewer migraines that were less severe,” Wells said. “Secondary effects included headaches that were shorter in duration and less disabling, and participants had increases in mindfulness and self-efficacy — a sense of personal control over their migraines. In addition, there were no adverse events and excellent adherence.”

Time.com reports that the MBSR group’s number of headaches didn’t reduce significantly (only 1.4 fewer per month than the control group), but they were significantly shorter — up to three hours shorter per headache.

“They were able to have a sense of personal control over their migraines,” Wells, Wake Forest assistant professor of neurology, said according to Time.com reporter Mandy Oaklander. “It really makes us wonder if an intervention like meditation can change the way people interpret their pain.”

Wells’ team concludes that MBSR is safe and feasible as a therapy for adults with migraines. They do caution, however, that the sample size for this study was too small to detect statistically significant changes in migraine frequency or severity. On the other hand, the secondary outcomes demonstrated this intervention had a beneficial effect on headache duration, disability, self-efficacy and mindfulness.

The team has planned further research with larger sample sizes to further evaluate the impact and mechanisms of this type of intervention in adults with migraines.

“For the approximate 36 million Americans who suffer from migraines, there is big need for non-pharmaceutical treatment strategies, and doctors and patients should know that MBSR is a safe intervention that could potentially decrease the impact of migraines,” Wells said.

The findings have been published in the online edition of Headache.

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The next generation of superfoods that can help combat diabetes and cardiovascular disease could be centered around a protein that helps maintain the health and vitality of human cells, according to new research published by the journal Antioxidants and Redox Signaling.
According to Cancer Research UK, quite often the term superfood is used as “a marketing tool” to “describe foods with apparently special health-related powers,” such as blueberries, broccoli, garlic, raspberries and green tea.
While the organization points out that these products are often “hailed as having the power to prevent or even cure many diseases” with “little scientific basis” to support those claims, the newly-published research is an exception by looking at the impact of components of different types of food on the protein Nrf2.
Nrf2, according to researchers from the University of Warwick in England, it continually moves into and out of the nuclei of our cells in order to sense whether or not they are staying healthy. When the protein is exposed to a threat to the cell’s well-being, it begins oscillating faster and activates cellular defense mechanisms, which includes increasing the levels of antioxidants.
By artificially introducing substances, the researchers reported they were able to successfully increase the speed of Nrf2’s movements. Those substances could be potential components of new superfoods, and include broccoli-derived sulforaphane and quercetin, which is abundant in onions. Using what they learned in their research, the scientists were able to develop new food supplements can could decrease heart disease and diabetes risk.
Lead researcher Professor Paul Thornalley and his colleagues claim they are the first to record the protein’s continual movement cycle, in which it oscillates into and out of the cell nucleus once every 129 minutes. When stimulated by the vegetable-derived substance, Nrf2’s cycle increases and takes place every 80 minutes.
“The way Nrf2 works is very similar to sensors in electronic devices that rely on continual reassessment of their surroundings to provide an appropriate response,” Thornalley said. “The health benefit of Nrf2 oscillating at a fast speed is that surveillance of cell health is increased when most needed, that is, when cells are under threat.”
“By understanding how this process works and increasing Nrf2’s speed without putting cells under threat, new strategies for design of healthier foods and improved drugs can be devised. Current designs may have selected substances with suboptimal if not poor health benefits in some cases,” he added.
Professor Andreu Palou, coordinator of the EU-funded BIOCLAIMS research program, noted that one of the primary nutritional challenges in Europe is “to substantiate the beneficial effects of foods that are advertised to the consumers.” He added that the Warwick team’s approach “is opening a fascinating new window” in that area.
BIOCLAIMS, which stands for the EU’s BIOmarkers of Robustness of Metabolic Homeostasis for Nutrigenomics-derived Health CLAIMS Made on Food project, helped fund the research along with the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council UK (BBSRC) Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC).
The paper was a collaboration between the University of Warwick’s Medical School, Life Sciences and Systems Biology Centre, and in addition to Thornalley, researchers participating in the project included Drs Mingzhan Xue, Hiroshi Momiji, Naila Rabbani, Guy Barker, Till Bretschneider and Tony Shmygol, and Professor David Rand.
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Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Journalists and other members of the media consume more coffee than any other type of professional, with police officers and teachers following closely behind, according to the results of a new survey of 10,000 professionals conducted by UK-based public relations firm Pressat.
Plumbers and trade workers were fourth on the list, followed by nurses and medical staff. Company executives, telemarketing, IT technical support, retail staff employees and drivers round out the top 10.
Eighty-five percent of those polled reported consuming at least three cups of coffee per day, and nearly 70 percent of them said that their working ability would be negatively affected if they weren’t allowed to consume the caffeinated beverage. It also found that men tended to drink slightly more coffee (5 percent) than women.
“It seems that drinking coffee is a necessity on the job in a wide variety of professions,” the Pressat team explained. “The highest consumers, sinking over four cups daily, were those with stressful careers… Could it be that being overstretched or working late pushed the workforce to consume more caffeine?”
Dylan Byers of Politico called the survey results “welcome news,” explaining that he drinks “at least four cups a day” and is “pretty much useless without it.” He’s clearly not alone, which begs the question – how much coffee is too much coffee?
Last December, researchers from the University of South Carolina Aiken published research that concluded that the daily recommended dose of caffeine should not exceed 200mg, Roy Greenslade of The Guardian explained on Friday.
That’s equal to about two mugs or four cups of coffee per day, the authors reported. Drinking more than that just to get through a day of work can increase the risk of various health issues, including elevated anxiety levels, strokes and heart problems – issues the survey found that 62 percent of workers were not aware of.
According to FoxNews.com writer Julie Revelant, National Coffee Association statistics indicate that 63 percent of all Americans drink coffee every day, and that the beverage is a good source of magnesium, potassium, niacin and other nutrients.
Dr. Arfa Babaknia, a family medicine physician at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, added that the caffeinated beverage is the largest single source of antioxidants in the average person’s diet, and Revelant noted that research has found it could decrease the risk of several types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and possibly age-related retinal degeneration.
On the negative side, coffee can decrease iron and calcium absorption, increase heart rate and anxiety, cause gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and worsen the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), she added. It could also increase blood pressure in those who don’t drink it every day, and blood glucose levels in diabetics.
“The sweet spot seems to be no more than 4 cups or 400 milligrams of coffee a day to get the health benefits and curb your cravings without any side effects. But the right amount really depends on how it makes you feel,” Revelant said. Dr. Babaknia added that “as long as coffee doesn’t make you jittery, hyper, give you a headache or cause insomnia, there is no limit.”
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Rayshell Clapper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online – With expert commentary by Heather C. Guidone, Program Director, Center for Endometriosis Care
Few diagnoses are more upsetting for women than endometriosis. Of course, the various female cancers, heart disease, and other life-threatening diseases and disorders are devastating, but endometriosis is a diagnosis that may well mean lifelong troubles ranging from menstrual pain to bowel or bladder dysfunction to infertility, while also possibly making a woman more prone to some of the other devastating health issues. A new study by Monash University researchers confirms just how burdensome a diagnosis of endometriosis can be.
According to the World Endometriosis Research Foundation, endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (called “the endometrium”) is found in locations outside the womb, where it induces a chronic reaction. Most commonly, endometriosis is found within the abdominopelvic region including ovaries, bowels, bladder and lining of the pelvis, but the disease can also be diagnosed in distant regions such as the lungs or diaphragm.
Endometriosis often results in chronic pelvic pain, painful periods, pain with ovulation, pain associated with sex, fatigue and infertility, and the disease can negatively impact all aspects of an individual’s general physical, mental and social well-being. Though there is no definitive cause of endometriosis, it is likely that certain genes predispose an individual to the disease. There is no known prevention, and no universal cure.
Though signs of endometriosis often present early in life, symptoms are routinely dismissed by caregivers and clinicians alike, leading to lengthy delays in diagnosis. The Monash University research, led by Kate Young, found that if women approached their doctors by describing symptoms as fertility-related rather than menstrual-related, they are more likely to receive a proper diagnosis of endometriosis sooner, which could lead to quicker help in managing pain and other symptoms. Moreover, the study found that endometriosis affected all aspects of a woman’s life – from sex life to personal relationships, work life, and general emotional well-being – all of which could be minimized through timely diagnosis and effective treatment.
The last major finding of the study was that women felt angry and even frustrated when they had experiences with doctors who misdiagnosed, did not diagnose, delayed diagnosis of endometriosis, or just generally did not listen to the concerns, symptoms, and experiences. They mostly just wanted their doctors to listen more carefully. Women also felt frustration at the lack of effectiveness and side effects of treatments.
The next stage of Ms. Young’s research will “gain a comprehensive understanding of endometriosis as experienced by diverse groups of women.” She will do this by conducting interviews with women of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as seeking information from general practitioners in rural and urban settings.
The Monash study demonstrates just how far-reaching the impact of endometriosis can be, on all levels. Though Ms. Young’s research is not complete, this study has shown her where future research should go.
For more information on the study, go to the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care.
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Expert commentary provided by Heather C. Guidone, Program Director, Center for Endometriosis Care
I heartily commend Ms. Young on her valuable research. Often mistakenly described as ‘insignificant killer cramps,’ in reality endometriosis is a major public health burden, exacting unfathomable tangible and intangible costs from society each year.
Teens remain the most under-diagnosed and ignored population, but most individuals who struggle with the disease are quite well-versed in the deficits surrounding timely diagnoses and access to effective care and support.
Many have had to fight for years, every step of the way, to get their pain and symptoms addressed. The damaging impact of endometriosis on quality of life, fertility, physical and emotional health, sexual function, and general well-being is staggering – yet a deep-rooted silence on the disease continues to pervade our culture. Pelvic pain in particular remains enshrouded by myths and misinformation; this lack of conversation continues to contribute to the lengthy delays in proper care for the disease.
Support of those with endometriosis in general remains a travesty. Inadequate and differing perceptions between clinicians vs. patients on pain and symptoms continue to result in insufficient attention to complaints. Care pathways continue to be encumbered by insurer limitations, injudicious withholding of timely referrals, deficient experience and training, disjointed access to treatment and poor information systems. Redundant – and lack of translational – research efforts have led to little progress. Stakeholder engagement in the research and educational processes surrounding the disease remain sorely lacking. Significant diagnostic delays and high treatment failures continue to frustrate both providers and those affected alike. Normalization and/or dismissal of symptoms, “watchful waiting” and other ineffective responses to an individual’s complaints will only continue to further delay appropriate care. Early and effective intervention is absolutely critical to the proper care of those with the disease; indeed, quality approaches to diagnosis and treatment at symptom onset may well prevent long-term complications and should be the foremost goal of any treatment plan.
If we are to ensure maximum support of a person with endometriosis and improve outcomes, the disease needs to be addressed from a multidisciplinary, multicollaborative approach at the first signs that something might be wrong. In order for those affected by endometriosis to make educated choices about their health pathways, it is important to keep the dialogue about the disease – and patient voices – out front. Instead of just asking limited or standardized questions, more clinicians should be listening to the individual’s narrative and tailoring treatment appropriately. Studies like Ms. Young’s reveal what so many of us already know – but so many providers still need to be made aware of.

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Contrary to popular belief, “fat shaming” does not encourage people to eat less and lose weight – in fact, it could have the opposite effect, researchers from the University College London (UCL) Health Behavior Research Centre report Thursday in the journal Obesity.

The study, which was funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at data of 2,944 adults over the course of four years and found that those who reported being discriminated against because of their size actually gained more weight than those who did not. After accounting for baseline differences, the authors said that people who reported weight discrimination gained an average of 2.09 pounds, while those who did not lost 1.57 pounds.

According to UCL, the study participants were also asked whether or not they experienced day-to-day discrimination they believed to be due to their weight, including harassment and poor service in stores. Five percent of the participants reported experiencing weight discrimination, including 36 percent of men and women classified as morbidly obese.

The study authors said that, to compound matters, these individuals are often treated disrespectfully by their own doctors, said Gregory Walton and Edward Malnick of The Telegraph. Those health care providers, they added, often underplay the fact that there are several factors that can contribute to obesity, including genetics.

UCL researcher and lead author Dr. Sarah Jackson told Walton and Malnick that much of the problem centered around the “language of blame” which is often directed towards overweight people, as well as friends and family members who are well-meaning but still wind up pointing out something that is already obvious to the other person.

“Most people who are overweight are aware of it already and don’t need it pointed out to them. Telling them they are fat isn’t going to help – it is just going to make them feel worse,” she said. “There are lots of different causes of obesity, yet a lot of blame just seems to be on individuals and a lack of will power. Raising awareness of some of the factors involved might make it easier not to blame people.”

Dr. Jackson was quoted by The Guardian as stating that there is “no justification for discriminating against people because of their weight. Our results show that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss, and suggest that it may even exacerbate weight gain. Previous studies have found that people who experience discrimination report comfort eating.”

Stress responses to such discrimination can increase a person’s appetite, especially for less-healthy and more energy-dense foods, she and her colleagues reported. They added that it has also been proven weight discrimination can cause people to feel less confident about participating in exercise, leading them to avoid physical activity.

While they did find a link between discrimination and comfort eating, their research did not find any concrete evidence that it directly caused weight gain, BBC News noted. However, senior author Professor Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behavior Centre at UCL, said this research clearly demonstrates that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem, not the solution.

“Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals; and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight,” she explained. “Everyone, including doctors, should stop blaming and shaming people for their weight and offer support, and where appropriate, treatment.”

This is not the first paper this year to associate the “fat shaming” with obesity. In April, UCLA scientists found that females who are told they are too fat by a parent, sibling, friend, classmate or teacher were more likely to be obese by age 19. Similar research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in January found that presenting overweight people with the typical stigmas of being lazy or self-indulgent caused them to suffer from less self-control when it came to eating afterward.

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Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Contrary to popular belief, “fat shaming” does not encourage people to eat less and lose weight – in fact, it could have the opposite effect, researchers from the University College London (UCL) Health Behavior Research Centre report Thursday in the journal Obesity.
The study, which was funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at data of 2,944 adults over the course of four years and found that those who reported being discriminated against because of their size actually gained more weight than those who did not. After accounting for baseline differences, the authors said that people who reported weight discrimination gained an average of 2.09 pounds, while those who did not lost 1.57 pounds.
According to UCL, the study participants were also asked whether or not they experienced day-to-day discrimination they believed to be due to their weight, including harassment and poor service in stores. Five percent of the participants reported experiencing weight discrimination, including 36 percent of men and women classified as morbidly obese.
The study authors said that, to compound matters, these individuals are often treated disrespectfully by their own doctors, said Gregory Walton and Edward Malnick of The Telegraph. Those health care providers, they added, often underplay the fact that there are several factors that can contribute to obesity, including genetics.
UCL researcher and lead author Dr. Sarah Jackson told Walton and Malnick that much of the problem centered around the “language of blame” which is often directed towards overweight people, as well as friends and family members who are well-meaning but still wind up pointing out something that is already obvious to the other person.
“Most people who are overweight are aware of it already and don’t need it pointed out to them. Telling them they are fat isn’t going to help – it is just going to make them feel worse,” she said. “There are lots of different causes of obesity, yet a lot of blame just seems to be on individuals and a lack of will power. Raising awareness of some of the factors involved might make it easier not to blame people.”
Dr. Jackson was quoted by The Guardian as stating that there is “no justification for discriminating against people because of their weight. Our results show that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss, and suggest that it may even exacerbate weight gain. Previous studies have found that people who experience discrimination report comfort eating.”
Stress responses to such discrimination can increase a person’s appetite, especially for less-healthy and more energy-dense foods, she and her colleagues reported. They added that it has also been proven weight discrimination can cause people to feel less confident about participating in exercise, leading them to avoid physical activity.
While they did find a link between discrimination and comfort eating, their research did not find any concrete evidence that it directly caused weight gain, BBC News noted. However, senior author Professor Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behavior Centre at UCL, said this research clearly demonstrates that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem, not the solution.
“Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals; and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight,” she explained. “Everyone, including doctors, should stop blaming and shaming people for their weight and offer support, and where appropriate, treatment.”
This is not the first paper this year to associate the “fat shaming” with obesity. In April, UCLA scientists found that females who are told they are too fat by a parent, sibling, friend, classmate or teacher were more likely to be obese by age 19. Similar research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in January found that presenting overweight people with the typical stigmas of being lazy or self-indulgent caused them to suffer from less self-control when it came to eating afterward.
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100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love by Lisa Leake

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
If the act of having sex is becoming a pain in the back (literally, not figuratively), you might be interested to know that, contrary to popular belief, spooning is not the best position to use when getting intimate with your significant other, according to researchers from the Spine Biomechanics Laboratory at University of Waterloo in Ontario.
[ Watch the Video: Groundbreaking Study Reveals Best Positions To Save Your Spine During Sex ]
Writing in the September 15 edition of the journal Spine, authors Natalie Sidorkewicz and Dr. Stuart M. McGill recruited 10 healthy, young couples in established relationships. Each couple was asked to perform five different sex positions (two variations of the missionary position, two variations of the quadruped or hands-and-knees position, and a spooning position) in random order.
The researchers then used motion capture technology to track to movement of each person’s spine, and then measured spinal motion and estimated the strain on the male partner’s spine for each of the five positions. The results showed a tremendous variation in terms of the rate and extent of spinal movement, and the recommendations for back pain patients would depend on which movements triggered discomfort, they explained.
“Spooning had previously been considered a one-position-fits-all for both men and women with back pain,” Sidorkewicz told Abby Phillip of The Washington Post on Wednesday. “That ignores the fact that there are different kinds of back pain triggered by different kinds of movements.”
For instance, in cases of flexion-intolerant pain (which is induced by bending the spine forwards), a quadruped position in which the woman supports her weight using her elbows and knees would place the least strain on the male partner’s spine, followed by the missionary position with the man using his hands to support his upper body.
When it comes to the spooning position, they found that it produced the greatest amount of strain on the spine of the male partner if they were flexion-intolerant. Those findings contradict the existing assumption that spooning was best for all patients with lower back pain, but Sidorkewicz said that those claims were not supported by scientific evidence.
“Before now, spooning was often recommended by physicians as the one position that fit all. But as we’ve discovered, that is not the case. Sex positions that are suitable for one type of back pain aren’t appropriate for another kind of pain,” she told The Telegraph.
“For the first time ever, we now have very solid science to guide clinicians on their recommendations for patients who suffer debilitating back pain, but still want to be intimate. This has the potential to improve quality of life – and love-life – for many couples,” Sidorkewicz added.
She and McGill plan to publish research about the impact of sexual intercourse on the female spine in the near future, and afterwards, the next phase of the research will involve recruiting patients with hip pain and additional categories of back pain to further develop the guidelines.
The study authors said they hope that this work will help open the channels of sex-related communication between patients suffering from back pain and their doctors, writing, “Many health care practitioners feel uncomfortable discussing their client’s sexual needs or do not address these needs at all. Perhaps the provision of recommendations qualified with empirical data will not only substantiate their clinical advice, but also facilitate dialogue between health care practitioners and their patients regarding this important issue.”

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Benzodiazepine, a sedative that is widely prescribed to treat people suffering from anxiety and insomnia, have been linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a team of French and Canadian researchers reported Tuesday in the online edition of the journal BMJ.
In the study, lead investigator Sophie Billioti de Gage of the University of Bordeaux and her colleagues looked at nearly 2,000 cases of Alzheimer’s disease in Quebec residents at least 66 years of age, all of whom had been prescribed benzodiazepines. The researchers then compared those individuals to more than 7,000 healthy people of roughly the same age and living in the same community.
According to The Huffington Post UK, de Gage and her associates discovered that previous use of the sedatives for at least three months was associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s five years later. That risk varied from 43 percent to 51 percent, and the strength of the association increased with the longer duration of use. It also increased with use of long-acting benzodiazepine versus short-acting ones.
“Our study reinforces the suspicion of an increased risk of Alzheimer-type dementia among benzodiazepine users, particularly long-term users, and provides arguments for carefully evaluating the indications for use of this drug class,” the authors wrote, adding that the findings were “of major importance for public health, especially considering the prevalence and chronicity of benzodiazepine use in older people and the high and increasing incidence of dementia in developed countries.”
Benzodiazepines include such popular medications as diazepam and lorazepam, explained Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor for The Telegraph. In fact, more than six million prescriptions were issued for the drugs in England last year, she added, which is what makes the findings so important. While the authors say the study results do not prove that drugs are causing Alzheimer’s, they said that there is a strong “suspicion of possible direct causation.”
In light of the findings, de Gage and her colleagues said that benzodiazepines should not be used for more than three months. However, Smith and others point out that some experts believe the results could just reflect the fact that many people who are already in the early stages of the neurodegenerative disease are being treated for anxiety and/or sleep disorders, and that this could cast doubt on the paper’s conclusions.
“This study shows an apparent link between the use of benzodiazepines and Alzheimer’s disease although it’s hard to know the underlying reason behind the link,” Dr. Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, told BBC News. “One limitation of this study is that benzodiazepines treat symptoms such as anxiety and sleep disturbance, which may also be early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Professor Guy Goodwin, president of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, added that the study’s findings “could mean that the drugs cause the disease, but is more likely to mean that the drugs are being given to people who are already ill.” However, Dr. James Pickett of the Alzheimer’s Society, said the paper provided evidence that long-term benzodiazepine use “increases the risk of dementia is significant.”
In related news, AFP reports published Wednesday revealed that the annual cost of dementia in the UK has increased to 26 billion pounds, and that patients, their families and their caretakers were being forced to cover two-thirds of those costs themselves.
According to the news agency, Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes is calling on the British government to provide those individuals and families with more financial assistance, calling the fact they only receive financial assistance totaling an average of one-third of their annual total care costs equivalent to enacting a “dementia tax” that “unfairly disadvantaged” the 225,000 people who develop the condition every year.

University of Edinburgh

People can become addicted to eating for its own sake but not to consuming specific foods such as those high in sugar or fat, research suggests.

An international team of scientists has found no strong evidence for people being addicted to the chemical substances in certain foods.

The brain does not respond to nutrients in the same way as it does to addictive drugs such as heroin or cocaine, the researchers say.

Instead, people can develop a psychological compulsion to eat, driven by the positive feelings that the brain associates with eating.

This is a behavioral disorder and could be categorized alongside conditions such as gambling addiction, say scientists at the University of Edinburgh.

They add that the focus on tackling the problem of obesity should be moved from food itself towards the individual’s relationship with eating.

The study, which examined the scientific evidence for food addiction as a substance-based addiction, is published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

The researchers also say that the current classification of mental disorders, which does not permit a formal diagnosis of eating addiction, could be redrawn. However, more research would be needed to define a diagnosis, the scientists add.

The work was carried at the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Gothenburg, Essen, Utrecht and Santiago de Compostela.

The researchers are involved in the NeuroFAST consortium, which is an EU-funded project studying the neurobiology of eating behavior, addiction and stress.

Dr John Menzies, Research Fellow in the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Integrative Physiology, said: “People try to find rational explanations for being over-weight and it is easy to blame food.

“Certain individuals do have an addictive-like relationship with particular foods and they can over-eat despite knowing the risks to their health. More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction.”

Professor Suzanne Dickson, of the University of Gothenburg and co-ordinator of the NeuroFAST project, added: “There has been a major debate over whether sugar is addictive. There is currently very little evidence to support the idea that any ingredient, food item, additive or combination of ingredients has addictive properties.”

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The reason that girls are less likely than boys to suffer from autism may have something to do with the same sex hormone receptor responsible for helping protect them from stroke, according to new research published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Autism.
In what is being called the first analysis of the role of estrogen in autism, experts from the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University examined the brains of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and compared them to control subjects. They found that ASD was associated with far lower levels of estrogen receptor beta.
Estrogen receptor beta, which enables estrogen’s ability to protect the brain, also plays a role in locomotion and a variety of behaviors, including anxiety, depression, memory and learning. Furthermore, the study authors also said that subjects diagnosed with autism also had significantly reduced levels of other estrogen-related proteins.
“If you ask any psychiatrist seeing patients with autistic behavior their most striking observation from the clinic, they will say there are more males compared to females,” corresponding author and neuroscientist Dr. Anilkumar Pillai said in a statement, adding that his team’s research “is the first indicator that estrogen receptors in the brain of Autism Spectrum Disorder patients may be different to controls.”
“Though this suggests a possible reason for the gender bias, we still need to determine what causes the reduced production of estrogen-related proteins,” he added. “It is worth looking at whether drugs which modulate estrogen reception, but do not cause feminization, could allow for the long-term treatment of male patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders… However, additional studies are needed to test the estrogen mechanism.”
According to the study authors, this might help explain why males are five times more likely than females to be autistic. Estrogen is known to help prevent stroke and cognitive decay in premenopausal women, while exposure to high levels of the male sex hormone testosterone during early stages of development has been linked to ASD.
In addition to reduced expression of estrogen receptor beta in the brains of autism patients, the study authors found less of an enzyme that helps convert testosterone to estrogen. Dr. Pillai believes that this discovery could help explain why autistic individuals tend to have higher testosterone levels, as well as why men have higher autism rates.
“The testosterone hypothesis is already there, but nobody had investigated whether it had anything to do with the female hormone in the brain,” he explained. “Estrogen is known to be neuroprotective, but nobody has looked at whether its function is impaired in the brain of individuals with autism. We found that the children with autism didn’t have sufficient estrogen receptor beta expression to mediate the protective benefits of estrogen.”
Their comparison of children with and without ASD revealed a 35 percent decrease in estrogen receptor beta expression and a 38 percent reduction in the amount of aromatase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen, the investigative team reported. In addition, levels of estrogen receptor beta proteins (active molecules resulting from gene expression that enables functions such as brain protection) were also lower.
No discernible difference was found in the expression levels of estrogen receptor alpha, which mediates sexual behavior, the Medical College of Georgia researchers found. Their analysis focused on the prefrontal cortex – the region of the brain in social behavior and cognition – and used brain tissue obtained from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders.
Dr. Pillai said that estrogen receptor beta agonists, which have already been demonstrated to improve brain plasticity and memory in animals, could ultimately be used to help reverse some of the symptoms of autism, such as reclusiveness and repetitive behavior.
He and his colleagues plan to begin animal studies to see what affect reducing estrogen receptor beta expression has on mice by giving an estrogen receptor beta agonist to a rodent showing signs of autistic behavior. Future, larger-scale trials could also compare the expression of testosterone receptor levels in healthy and autistic children, the scientists said. They are also curious as to why the reduced beta receptor expression occurs.

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

A specialized intervention program designed to treat infants showing signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could help significantly reduce symptoms by the age of three, according to new research currently appearing online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

In the study, authors Sally J. Rogers and Sally Ozonoff, both of whom are professors of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, Davis, report that beginning treatment in one of these “Infant Start” programs as early as six months after birth could improve symptoms and alleviate developmental delay.

In fact, participating in these programs led to such improvement that most who received the treatment were found to have neither ASD nor developmental delay by the age of three, the study authors said. The study looked at only seven kids, but is the first to look at the effect of starting therapy during the first year of life, said USA Today’s Karen Weintraub.

“Most of the children in the study, six out of seven, caught up in all of their learning skills and their language by the time they were 2 to 3,” Rogers, who was the lead author of the study and was also responsible for developing the Infant Start therapy, said in a statement Monday. “Most children with ASD are barely even getting diagnosed by then.”

“For the children who are achieving typical developmental rates, we are essentially ameliorating their developmental delays. We have speeded up their developmental rates and profiles, not for every child in our sample, but for six of the seven,” she continued, crediting the parents of these youngsters for their role in the pilot study.

“Parents are there every day with their babies. It’s the little moments of diapering, feeding, playing on the floor, going for a walk, being on a swing, that are the critical learning moments for babies. Those moments are what parents can capitalize on in a way that nobody else really can,” Rogers added.

According to Shirley S. Wang of the Wall Street Journal, Rogers, Ozonoff and colleagues from UC Davis and York University enrolled the parents of seven babies who were at high risk of developing autism in 12 weekly instructional sessions designed to teach them how to improve the social communication and play of their infants. Most of those youngsters were able to catch-up developmentally to low-risk babies that did not demonstrate ASD symptoms.

“By 3 years of age, five of the seven babies were considered to be developing normally and had no diagnosis of autism-spectrum disorder, or ASD. Four had older siblings diagnosed with the condition,” Wang said. “Researchers believe repeated social stimulation and making engagement with other people more appealing helped the babies learn more about social information, which is critical to their learning about language and communication.”

Rogers told Weintraub that the findings do not indicate the program helped children recover from autism, since those infants were too young to have been officially diagnosed with the disorder. However, she said it showed that Infant Start showed promise as a potential treatment for young kids experiencing ASD-related symptoms, though it remains unclear if the program is better than therapy typically offered to three- and four-year-olds.

Likewise, University of Connecticut child neuropsychologist Deborah Fein told USA Today that it was far too soon to declare Infant Start therapy an effective cure or treatment for autism, since some babies that appear as though they will have terrible issues simply outgrow them. However, she said that the results were impressive enough to warrant further investigation in a larger study – something that Rogers said will happen once funding is available.

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Anna Mikulak, Association for Psychological Science

Children show stronger food craving than adolescents and adults, but they are also able to use a cognitive strategy that reduces craving, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“These findings are important because they suggest that we may have another tool in our toolbox to combat childhood obesity,” says psychological scientist and lead researcher Jennifer A. Silvers, a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Professor Kevin Ochsner.

Most interventions aimed at preventing or reducing childhood obesity focus on changing the environment — by limiting access to soda, for example, or by encouraging physical activity.

“Such environmental interventions are clearly important, but sugary sweets and tempting treats cannot always be avoided,” Silvers explains. “If children as young as 6 can learn to use a cognitive strategy after just a few minutes of training, that has huge implications for interventions.”

To find out how food craving and regulating food craving change with age, Silvers and colleagues had 105 healthy individuals come to the lab to participate in a neuroimaging session. The participants, who ranged in age from 6 to 23 years, were shown pictures of a variety of unhealthy but appetizing salty and sweet foods while undergoing fMRI scans.

For some of the pictures, participants were told to imagine the food was in front of them and to focus on how the food tastes and smells. For the other pictures, they were told to imagine that the food was farther away and to focus on the visual aspects of the food, such as its shape and color.

After viewing each picture, the participants rated how much they wanted to eat the food they had seen.

Having the participants imagine the taste and smell of the food allowed the researchers to assess the participants’ typical responses to appealing foods. Having them imagine the visual aspects of the food, a cognitive strategy that redirects attention, allowed the researchers to assess how participants regulated their responses to the food.

The study results revealed that participants of all ages reported less craving when they used the cognitive strategy of imagining the visual aspects of the food, amounting to a 16% reduction in craving.

Even when using the strategy, however, children’s food cravings were still stronger than those of adolescents and adults, suggesting that foods are generally more desirable to children.

Analyses of the neuroimaging data showed that age-related reductions in craving were associated with increased activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved in self-control, and decreased activity in the ventral striatum, which is involved in reward processing.

Children with higher weight-to-height ratios (known as Body Mass Index, or BMI) showed relatively less prefrontal activity when using the cognitive strategy to regulate food craving than did children with lower BMI, suggesting that the areas of the brain involved in regulating craving may differ depending on body mass.

“We believe this research has implications for a wide range of people, from basic scientists who are interested in how reward processing changes across the lifespan, to obesity researchers looking to devise interventions to curb childhood obesity, to parents and pediatricians trying to raise healthier and happier kids,” says Silvers.

To strengthen these findings, Silvers and colleagues are now conducting a longitudinal study that examines changes in craving and regulation of craving in the same individuals over time.

And they’re also planning to bring their cognitive strategy into the classroom, working with schools to see whether a cognitive training regimen might have real, positive impacts for kids.

“Having this basic knowledge in hand is critical if we want to understand how our relationship with food changes across the lifespan,” Silvers concludes.

In addition to Silvers, co-authors on the study include Catherine Insel of Harvard University; Alisa Powers of Long Island University; B.J. Casey of Weill Cornell Medical College; and Peter Franz, Jochen Weber, Walter Mischel, and Kevin Ochsner of Columbia University.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 NICHD 0691780, F31 NIMH 94056).

Sam Wong, Imperial College London

Social networking programs designed to help people lose weight could play a role in the global fight against obesity, according to research.

Analysis by researchers from Imperial College London combining the results of 12 previous studies shows that such programs have achieved modest but significant results in helping participants lose weight.

The paper is one of 10 reports on global healthcare policy written for the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation, and published in the September issue of the journal Health Affairs.

Obesity is an increasing issue in developed and developing countries, contributing to other diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health problems and resulting in rising costs for health services.

The inaugural WISH Summit in 2013 convened world experts to discuss innovative ways to address major global health issues, including obesity.  One innovation they considered is the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to provide obese people with a community of support from both clinicians and peers to help them lose weight.

The researchers compiled data from 12 studies spread across the US, Europe, east Asia and Australia which trialed social networking services for weight loss, involving 1,884 participants in total. The amalgamated results showed that people who used these services achieved a collective decrease in body mass index by a value of 0.64, which the authors describe as modest but significant.

Health policy researcher and surgeon Dr. Hutan Ashrafian, the lead author of the study at the Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, said: “One advantage of using social media over other methods is that it offers the potential to be much more cost effective and practical for day-to-day use when compared to traditional approaches.  The feeling of being part of a community allows patients to draw on the support of their peers as well as clinicians. They can get advice from their doctor without the inconvenience or cost of having to travel, and clinicians can provide advice to many patients simultaneously.

“There are also possible downsides, such as potential privacy issues and a need for the patient to be internet savvy, so it may not be right for everyone.

“The studies we looked at were the first to investigate social media approaches to obesity. There needs to be more research into this area to see what approaches work best for which patients in light of the dramatic global adoption of social media tools and content.

“The use of social media to treat obesity encourages patients to be more pro-active and empowers them to contribute towards their own treatment. It’s not the only solution to the obesity epidemic, but it should be introduced as an element of every country’s obesity strategy.”

Reference: H. Ashrafian et al. ‘Social Networking Strategies That Aim To Reduce Obesity Have Achieved Significant Although Modest Results.’ Health Affairs 33, No. 9 (2014) doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0370

Marguerite Beck, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Middle ear infections, which affect more than 85 percent of children under the age of 3, can be triggered by a viral infection in the nose rather than solely by a bacterial infection, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

By simultaneously infecting the nose with a flu virus and a bacterium that is one of the leading causes of ear infections in children, the researchers found that the flu virus inflamed the nasal tissue and significantly increased both the number of bacteria and their propensity to travel through the Eustachian tube and infect the middle ear.

The study is published in the current online issue of the American Society for Microbiology’s journal Infection and Immunity.

“Every individual has bacteria in the nose that most of the time doesn’t cause problems,” said the study’s lead author, W. Edward Swords, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at Wake Forest Baptist. “However, under certain conditions those bacteria can migrate to the middle ear and cause an ear infection, and now we have a better understanding of how and why that happens.”

The bacterium used in the animal study, Streptococcus pneumoniae, is known to exist in the noses of children in two phases, one relatively invasive and the other relatively benign. The more invasive phase is more frequently found in the infected ears of children. However, the study indicated that the flu virus promoted bacterial growth and ear infection regardless of which phase of the bacterium was present in the nose.

“These findings suggest that a flu infection modifies the response of the immune system to this particular bacterium, enabling even the type that has previously been considered benign to infect the middle ear,” Swords said.

Work in Swords’ laboratory is sponsored by NIH Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Diseases grant R01 DC10051 and  AstraZeneca.

Co-authors of the study are John T. Wren, B.S., Lance A. Blevins, B.S., Bing Pang, Ph.D., Lauren B. King, Ph.D., Antonia C. Perez, Ph.D., Kyle A. Murrah, Ph.D., Jennifer L. Reimche, B.S., and Martha A. Alexander-Miller, Ph.D., all of Wake Forest Baptist.

American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report

Postmenopausal women who eat foods higher in potassium are less likely to have strokes and die than women who eat less potassium-rich foods, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.

“Previous studies have shown that potassium consumption may lower blood pressure. But whether potassium intake could prevent stroke or death wasn’t clear,” said Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D., study senior author and distinguished university professor emerita, department of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.

“Our findings give women another reason to eat their fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of potassium, and potassium not only lowers postmenopausal women’s risk of stroke, but also death.”

Researchers studied 90,137 postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 79, for an average 11 years. They looked at how much potassium the women consumed, as well as if they had strokes, including ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, or died during the study period. Women in the study were stroke-free at the start and their average dietary potassium intake was 2,611 mg/day. Results of this study are based on potassium from food, not supplements.

The researchers found:

– Women who ate the most potassium were 12 percent less likely to suffer stroke in general and 16 percent less likely to suffer an ischemic stroke than women who ate the least.

– Women who ate the most potassium were 10 percent less likely to die than those who ate the least.

– Among women who did not have hypertension (whose blood pressure was normal and they were not on any medications for high blood pressure), those who ate the most potassium had a 27 percent lower ischemic stroke risk and 21 percent reduced risk for all stroke types, compared to women who ate the least potassium in their daily diets.

– Among women with hypertension (whose blood pressure was high or they were taking drugs for high blood pressure), those who ate the most potassium had a lower risk of death, but potassium intake did not lower their stroke risk.

Researchers suggested that higher dietary potassium intake may be more beneficial before high blood pressure develops. They also said there was no evidence of any association between potassium intake and hemorrhagic stroke, which could be related to the low number of hemorrhagic strokes in the study.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that women eat at least 4,700 mg of potassium daily. “Only 2.8 percent of women in our study met or exceeded this level. The World Health Organization’s daily potassium recommendation for women is lower, at 3,510 mg or more. Still, only 16.6 percent of women we studied met or exceeded that,” said Wassertheil-Smoller.

“Our findings suggest that women need to eat more potassium-rich foods. You won’t find high potassium in junk food. Some foods high in potassium include white and sweet potatoes, bananas and white beans.”

While increasing potassium intake is probably a good idea for most older women, there are some people who have too much potassium in their blood, which can be dangerous to the heart. “People should check with their doctor about how much potassium they should eat,” she said.

The study was observational and included only postmenopausal women. Researchers also did not take sodium intake into consideration, so the potential importance of a balance between sodium and potassium is not among the findings. Researchers said more studies are needed to determine whether potassium has the same effects on men and younger people.

First author is Arjun Seth, B.S. and other co-authors are: Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Ph.D.; Victor Kamensky, M.S.; Brian Silver, M.D.; Kamakshi Lakshminarayan, M.D.; Ross Prentice, Ph.D.; and Linda Van Horn, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute funded the study.

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Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

More than 1,000 US children have been hospitalized due to a mysterious respiratory illness believed to be caused by a pathogen related to the one that causes the common cold, and 10 states have contacted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for help in the matter, various media outlets have reported.

According to Gillian Mohney and Dean Schabner of ABC News, the disease has not yet been identified, but health officials believe the cause is human enterovirus 68 (EV-D68), which the CDC said is related to rhinovirus – the most common viral pathogen and the predominant cause of colds in men and women.

As of this past weekend, the states that had contacted the federal public health institute were North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, said Kimberly Ruble of the Guardian Liberty Voice. In Missouri, approximately 450 children had to be hospitalized with the illness, with 60 requiring intensive care, and a high number of potential cases have also been reported in Ohio, Colorado and Illinois.

“Viruses don’t tend to respect borders,” explained ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser. “It is only 10 states now, but it’s going to be across the country. So if your state doesn’t have it now, watch for it, it’s coming. This is a very common time for outbreaks. Kids come back to school, they like to share things, they bring them home to their little brothers and sisters, and enteroviruses tend to occur in the summer.”

Besser said that doctors “have no idea” why this particular strain of enterovirus, which is said to be extremely rare, surfaced this year. He added that officials at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver told him over 900 pediatric patients with symptoms typical of the respiratory virus were treated by emergency room doctors between August 18 and September 4, and that 86 of those children had to be admitted to the hospital.

What are the symptoms of this disease? According to CNN’s Jethro Mullen, the symptoms of most enteroviruses are “like a very intense cold” – a sentiment echoed by CDC virologist Mark Pallansch, who said that these types of microbes are responsible for most bad summer colds. There are over 100 different types of enteroviruses, he said. They cause between 10 and 15 million infections in the US each year, peaking during the month of September.

The current concern is related to the rareness of this particular type of enterovirus, as well as the high number of hospitalizations associated with respiratory ailments this season, Mullen said. He explained that EV-D68 has been sending over 30 children per day to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and officials at that medical facility report that nearly 15 percent of those youngsters have been placed in intensive care.

“It’s worse in terms of scope of critically ill children who require intensive care. I would call it unprecedented,” said Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, a director for infectious diseases at the Kansas City hospital, which has treated approximately 475 children in recent days. “I’ve practiced for 30 years in pediatrics, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

Experts cannot say for sure why EV-D68 has surfaced this year, but William Schaffner, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University, said there isn’t too much cause for concern. Even though the enterovirus “causes prominent respiratory symptoms,” he said the good news is this disease is rarely fatal.

“Most enteroviruses cause either a little bit of a cold or a diarrheal illness – a few cause meningitis. This one is the, if you will, odd cousin. It causes prominent respiratory symptoms. Why it does that, we’re really not sure,” he told CNN. “All of these folks are going to get better. Some of them have more severe illness, such as these children who have developed asthma and are hospitalized. But they should all get better.”

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Rayshell Clapper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

We live in a world that is constantly on the move. We have things stimulating us all of the time, often leading to overstimulation. We work more and more, and because of technology, often bring that work everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, with us. It is no wonder many people experience stress and stress-related disorders.

As the National Institute of Mental Health defines, “Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand. Many things can trigger this response, including change. Changes can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived.” And the truth is that more than just change triggers the stress response. Moreover, the stress response can lead to even more dangerous illnesses and disorders like anxiety and depression.

But there is a glimmer of hope in understanding why stress can be so devastating to some, according to Rockefeller University researchers. In fact, the research team found that perhaps there is a molecular mechanism of the so-called stress gap in mice with very similar genetic backgrounds that could lead to a much clearer understanding of certain psychiatric disorders caused by stress, including anxiety and depression. In fact, the research points to new markers that will hopefully better aid in the diagnosis and treatment of stress-related disorders and illnesses.

As the Rockefeller University researchers explain, “In experiments, researchers stressed the mice by exposing them to daily, unpredictable bouts of cage tilting, altered dark-light cycles, confinement in tight spaces and other conditions mice dislike with the goal of reproducing the sort of stressful experiences thought to be a primary cause of depression in humans. Afterward, in tests to see if the mice displayed the rodent equivalent of anxiety and depression symptoms, they found about 40 percent showed high levels of behaviors that included a preference for a dark compartment over a brightly lit one, or a loss of interest in sugar water. The remaining 60 percent recovered well from the stress. This distinction between the susceptible mice and the resilient ones was so fundamental that it emerged even before the mice were subjected to stress; some unstressed mice showed an anxiety-like preference for a dark compartment over a lighted one.”

Specifically, what the study team found was that the mice that were much more highly susceptible to stress had less mGlu2, an important molecule of the hippocampus, which is a region of the brain involved with stress. External experiences affected the expression of the mGlu2 gene, which affected the ability of affected mice to deal with stress and thus the mice exhibited the mouse equivalent of anxiety and depression. This reduction of mGlu2 molecule is important as this molecule regulates glutamate, a neurotransmitter that plays a critical role in communicating messages from and between neurons. Too much glutamate can cause very harmful structure changes to the brain. The research shows that perhaps how the mice reacted to stress is one such harmful change.

The senior author, Bruce McEwen, Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, explained that people and animals have life experiences which can alter the expression of genes. This research more closely confirms that the altered expression of the mGlu2 gene affected how the mice reacted to stress.

Since there are many stress-related disorders and many possibilities of disorders within those, this study is hopeful. In fact, the truth that so many people suffer from stress – be that through a psychological disorder like depression or anxiety or through simple daily struggles like being unfocused or fearful – shows that this study provides a glimmer of hope for diagnosis and treatment. It may even provide what scientists and doctors need to better help predict stress and stress-related disorders. And that is hopeful.

Findings of this research were published September 2 in Molecular Psychiatry.

Lauren Anderson, European Lung Foundation
Sleeping on animal fur in the first three months of life might reduce the risk of asthma in later childhood a new study has found.
The new research, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich on September 8, 2014, suggests that exposure to the microbial environment in animal skin and fur could have a protective effect against asthma and allergies.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to a wider range of environments from a young age could be protective against asthma and allergies. These findings have not been confirmed conclusively in urban settings. In this new study, researchers investigated children from a city environment who had been exposed to animal skin by sleeping on the material shortly after birth.
Data from a German birth cohort called Lisaplus were used. The cohort included over 3,000 healthy newborns who were mainly recruited in 1998.
The researchers collected information on exposure to animal skin during the first three months of life, along with information on the health of children until the age of 10 years. Information on 2,441 children was used in the study, with 55% of those included sleeping on animal skin in the first three months of life.
The results showed that sleeping on animal skin was associated with a reduced risk of a number of factors connected to asthma. The chance of having asthma at the age of 6 years was 79% lower in children who had slept on animal skin after birth compared with those who were not exposed to animal skin. The risk decreased to 41% by the age of 10.
Dr Christina Tischer, from the Helmholtz Zentrum München Research Centre, said: “Previous studies have suggested that microbes found in rural settings can protect from asthma. An animal skin might also be a reservoir for various kinds of microbes, following similar mechanisms as has been observed in rural environments. Our findings have confirmed that it is crucial to study further the actual microbial environment within the animal fur to confirm these associations.”
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