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IMAGE:  Obesity is associated with increased risk of developing and dying from the following cancers: breast (in postmenopausal women), ovarian, liver, gallbladder, kidney (renal cell), colon, pancreatic, gastric, esophageal (adenocarcinoma), endometrial,... view more  Credit: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics About one third of cancer cases are estimated to be linked to dietary and other modifiable risk factors, especially for obesity-related cancers such as breast, colorectal, ovarian, endometrial, kidney, gallbladder, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers. In this special theme issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , food and nutrition practitioners and other health professionals take an in-depth look at the relationship between nutrition, obesity, and cancer prevention, treatment, and survival and identify research gaps for future prevention research efforts. The United States ha...

Dining out more at restaurants, cafeterias and fast-food outlets may boost total levels of potentially health-harming chemicals called phthalates in the body, according to a study out today. Phthalates, a group of chemicals used in food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormones in humans and are linked to a long list of health problems. The study is the first to compare phthalate exposures in people who reported dining out to those more likely to enjoy home-cooked meals. People who reported consuming more restaurant, fast food and cafeteria meals had phthalate levels that were nearly 35 percent higher than people who reported eating food mostly purchased at the grocery store, according to the study. "This study suggests food prepared at home is less likely to contain high levels of phthalates, chemicals linked to fertility problems, pregnancy complications and other health issues," says senior author Ami Zota, ScD, MS, an assistant profess...

Regular and intensive meditation sessions over the course of a lifetime could help a person remain attentive and focussed well into old age. This is according to the most extensive longitudinal study to date examining a group of meditation practitioners. Published in Springer's Journal of Cognitive Enhancement , the research evaluates the benefits that people gained after three months of full-time meditation training and whether these benefits are maintained seven years later. Lead author Anthony Zanesco, now at the University of Miami in the US, however, cautions that further research is needed before meditation can be advocated as a sure-fire method for countering the effects of aging on the  brain. This study follows up on previous work by the same group of researchers at the University of California, Davis in 2011, which assessed the cognitive abilities of 30 people who regularly meditated before and after they went on a three-month-long retreat a...

Scientists have long known that restricting calories can fend off physiological signs of aging, with studies in fruit flies, roundworms, rodents and even people showing that chronically slashing intake by about a third can reap myriad health benefits and, in some cases, extend lifespan. From a public health perspective, that advice would be impractical for many and dangerous for some. But a new University of Colorado Boulder study published today indicates that when people consume a natural dietary supplement called nicotinomide riboside (NR) daily, it mimics caloric restriction, aka "CR," kick-starting the same key chemical pathways responsible for its health benefits. Supplementation also tends to improve blood pressure and arterial health, particularly in those with mild hypertension, the study found. "This was the first ever study to give this novel compound to humans over a period of time," said senior author Doug Seals, a profess...

A single high-fat milkshake, with a fat and calorie content similar to some enticing restaurant fare, can quickly transform our healthy red blood cells into small, spiky cells that wreak havoc inside our blood vessels and help set the perfect stage for cardiovascular disease, scientists report. Just four hours after consuming a milkshake made with whole milk, heavy whipping cream and ice cream, healthy young men also had blood vessels less able to relax and an immune response similar to one provoked by an infection, the team of Medical College of Georgia scientists report in the journal Laboratory Investigation . While the dramatic, unhealthy shift was likely temporary in these healthy individuals, the scientists say there is a definite cumulative toll from this type of eating, and that their study could help explain isolated reports of death and/or heart attack right after eating a super-high fat meal. "We see this hopefully as a public service to get people to th...

The means are now at hand to conquer Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The method is to identify those at risk for the disease before clinical signs develop. That is followed by implementing measures that can effectively prevent disease development. Since biotechnology markers have shown that AD commences at least a decade before cognitive deficits set in, there is an extended window of opportunity to successfully prevent disease development.  Methods of identifying those at risk include positron electron microscopy for AD senile plaques, blood or saliva analysis for elevation of the amyloid-β protein fragment terminating at position 42, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis showing a decrease in content of this protein. Of the modalities available, saliva is by far the simplest and least invasive.  Once identified, those at risk can prevent disease development through self treatment by consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, adhering to a Mediterranean diet, and...

Drugs with high-risk anticholinergic properties can lead to risks of developing serious adverse events, such as cognitive impairment, falls, dementia, and even mortality in older adults. Yet, relatively little is known about prescribing trends of high-risk anticholinergic medications in the United States of America. Researchers in the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of the 2006-2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to understand more. They found that physicians' prescribing behavior remained stable over time, and these drugs were prescribed in about six percent of visits over a ten-year period. The findings were recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . "High-risk anticholinergic prescribing should be avoided because there are safer alternative medications for older adults," said the lead study author, Greg Rhee, Ph.D., M.S.W., adjunct assistant professor in the ...

Prescription drug overpayments (also known as “clawbacks”) occur when commercially insured patients’ copayments exceed the total cost of the drug to their insurer or pharmacy benefit manager. While the practice has been acknowledged and discussed in the media, it has never been quantified in large samples. In 2013, almost one quarter of filled pharmacy prescriptions (23%) involved a patient copayment that exceeded the average reimbursement paid by the insurer by more than $2.00. Among these overpayment claims, the average overpayment is $7.69. Overpayments are more likely on claims for generic versus brand drugs (28% vs. 6%), but the average size of the overpayment on generic claims is smaller ($7.32 vs. $13.46). In 2013, total overpayments amounted to $135 million in our sample, or $10.51 per covered life. With over 200 million Americans commercially insured in 2013, these findings suggest the practice of overpayments may account for a non-negligible share of overall dru...

Early adulthood is particularly critical for putting on weight. According to a recent study conducted at the University of Helsinki, common factors among young women and men who succeeded in managing their weight in the long term included eating regularly rather than dieting. "Often, people try to prevent and manage excess weight and obesity by dieting and skipping meals. In the long term, such approaches seem to actually accelerate getting fatter, rather than prevent it," says Ulla Kärkkäinen, a researcher and licensed nutritional therapist at the University of Helsinki. The study on weight management conducted at the University of Helsinki was part of the extensive FinnTwin 16 study, with more than 4,900 young men and women as participants. The study subjects answered surveys mapping out factors impacting weight and weight change when they were 24 years of age, and again ten years later at the age of 34. Most subjects g...

In the U.S., about 13 percent of women and 10 percent of men aged 60 or older have knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA) . Osteoarthritis occurs when a joint becomes inflamed, usually because the protective cartilage and other tissues that cushion joints like the knee become damaged and worn over time. Knee pain from OA can make it harder to take care of yourself, which can damage your quality of life. In turn, that can lead to depression . According to researchers, knee OA affects some 55 percent of people over age 40 in Japan. A research team from the country recently published a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examining the effects of knee pain on depression since, until now, few studies have focused on how knee pain and impaired knee function relate to depression. To learn more, the researchers examined information from 573 people aged 65 or older who participated in the Kurabuchi Study, an ongoing look at the health of older ad...

As of 2015, nearly 47 million people around the world had dementia , a memory problem significant enough to affect your ability to carry out your usual tasks. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, but other forms exist, too. Because there's currently no cure for dementia, it's important to know about the risk factors that may lead to developing it. For example, researchers have learned that older adults with slower walking speeds seem to have a greater risk of dementia than those with faster walking speeds. Recently, researchers from the United Kingdom teamed up to learn more about changes in walking speed, changes in the ability to think and make decisions, and dementia. They published their study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . The researchers examined information collected from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. The study included adults aged 60 and older who lived in Engla...

Annually, about one-third of all American adults aged 65 or older experience a fall. Falls are a major cause of medical problems, especially among those who have dementia . In fact, twice the number of older adults with dementia experience falls, compared to people without dementia. What's more, older adults with dementia or other cognitive problems who fall are five times more likely to be admitted to long-term care facilities, and are at higher risk for fractures , head injuries, and even death, compared to older adults without dementia who experience a fall. Researchers have recently focused on the role that dementia and other cognitive problems may play in falling, in hopes of discovering ways to manage and prevent falls . They published their study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . The research team reviewed several studies examining the role of cognitive function--the ability to think and make decisions--on falls. They also studied w...

Diets rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids from plants were associated with a lower risk of dying from heart disease or other causes compared to diets rich in mono-unsaturated fats from animals, which were linked to a higher risk of death from heart disease or other causes, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2018, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. "Our results emphasize the importance of the source and quantity of mono-unsaturated fatty acids in the diet - we should eat more mono-unsaturated fatty acids from plant sources and less mono-unsaturated fatty acids from animal sources," said Marta Guasch-Ferré, Ph.D., a research associate and one of the lead authors of this study along with Geng Zong, Ph.D., a research fellow. Both are at the H...

Adults over the age of 45 who consume large amounts of sugary beverages including soft drinks, fruit drinks and fruit juices may have a higher risk of dying from heart disease or other causes, compared to those who drink fewer sugary drinks, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2018, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. The researchers found a graded association between consuming more sugary beverages and an increased risk of death from heart disease or any cause. Study participants in the top 25 percent of consumers, those who tended to drink 24 ounces or more of sugary beverages each day, had twice the risk of death from coronary heart disease compared to those in the lowest 25 percent of people who drank less than 1 ounce. In addition, there was an i...

Taking menopausal hormone therapy soon after menopause to relieve symptoms may also benefit the brain, according to a study published in the March 21, 2018, online issue of Neurology ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "We found that one form of menopausal hormone therapy taken soon after menopause may preserve brain structure in the portion of the brain responsible for memory and thinking skills," said study author Kejal Kantarci, MD, MS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "It may also reduce the development of amyloid plaques that can build up and lead to memory loss." For the study, researchers identified 75 healthy women with an average age of 53 who were between five months to three years past menopause. Of those, 20 women took conjugated equine estrogen in pill form, 22 received estradiol via skin patches and 33 received a placebo of either the pills or patches. In...

Prolonged sitting time and low physical activity levels were linked with the development of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a BJU International study of 69,795 middle-aged Korean men. A team led by researchers at the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, in South Korea, found that the incidence rate of LUTS--which relate to urine storage and/or voiding disturbances--was 39 per 1000 person-years. (A person-year is the number of years of follow-up multiplied by the number of people in the study.) "The results support the importance of both reducing sitting time and promoting physical activity for preventing LUTS," said lead author Dr. Heung Jae Park. "Further studies are still needed to examine the influence of sedentary behaviors on LUTS and its determinants," added senior author Dr. Seungho Ryu.

The ancient martial art of tai chi has similar or greater benefits than aerobic exercise for people with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, finds a trial published by The BMJ today. The findings suggest it may be time to rethink what type of exercise is most effective for patients with chronic pain conditions. Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that causes widespread body pain. It may also lead to extreme tiredness, muscle stiffness, difficulty sleeping and depression. It affects around 2-4% of the adult population worldwide. Aerobic exercise is currently recommended as a standard treatment, but many patients find it difficult to exercise due to fluctuations in symptoms. Some trials have suggested that tai chi alleviates pain and improves physical and mental health in patients with fibromyalgia but concluded that larger and more rigorous trials are needed to confirm the results. So to investigate further, a team of US ...

People who have had flu or pneumonia may be six times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke in the days after infection, according to new research published in the European Respiratory Journal [1] . The research, funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences, is the largest study to look at the risk of heart attacks and strokes due to specific respiratory infections. It found that several different organisms that cause respiratory infections also increase heart attack and stroke risk, including S. pneumoniae bacteria and influenza. The researchers say that the findings suggest that getting vaccinated against these two infections could also have a role in preventing heart attack and stroke, along with preventing infection in the first place. In general, respiratory infections are thought to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke by causing inflammation, which can lead to the development of blood clots. The influenz...

Hypertension, abnormally high blood pressure, is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Many healthcare professionals still believe that incremental changes in blood pressure are normal, and expected, with aging. A new study by investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital, published in the journal of JAMA Cardiology , found that a systolic (top) blood pressure that regularly exceeds 120-125 mmHg could signal impending hypertension, regardless of age. These results are in line with the recently updated American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association high blood pressure guidelines, which categorize high blood pressure as greater than 130/80 mmHg. "There used to be a widespread belief that a gradual increase in blood pressure over time is part of normal aging," says Susan Cheng, MD, a cardiologist at BWH and senior author on the paper. "But, if you look at native communities, where people live without the lifestyle e...

Women who take antibiotics for long periods, especially in late adulthood, appear to have a higher risk of death from heart disease and in general, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2018, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population-based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. While previous studies have found antibiotic use is associated with long-lasting changes to microorganisms that live in the human gut, known as gut microbiota, researchers had yet to examine relatively healthy populations of people to determine how duration of antibiotic use at different times during adulthood might be related to all-cause and cause-specific risk of death, according to study author Lu Qi, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans. "Gut microbiota alterations ...

IMAGE:  This graphical abstract depicts the effects of a 2-year calorie restriction (CR) trial in healthy, non-obese humans, which found evidence that prolonged CR enhances resting energy efficiency, resulting in decreased... view more  Credit: Redman et al./ Cell Metabolism One of the first studies to explore the effects of calorie restriction on humans showed that cutting caloric intake by 15% for 2 years slowed aging and metabolism and protected against age-related disease. The study, which will appear March 22 in the journal Cell Metabolism , found that calorie restriction decreased systemic oxidative stress, which has been tied to age-related neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as cancer, diabetes, and others. "Restricting calories can slow your basal metabolism, and if by-products of metabolism accelerate aging processes, calorie restriction sust...