Health’s Blog

It’s true. There’s room for chocolate in any healthy diet, not only because new research indicates that it’s actually good for you thanks to disease-fighting flavanols in the darker varieties, but also because it tastes good and you love it.

The key to including indulgences like chocolate in your diet without blowing your calorie limit is to eat them in moderation. That means limiting yourself to a small piece or two a day (about one ounce or 150 calories worth), and splurging on high-quality chocolate that really satisfies.

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A Sydney University researcher is helping to alert people in the Asia Pacific region to the deadly impact of smoking.

Dr Rachel Huxley, acting director of the Nutrition and Lifestyle Division at the George Institute, says too few people in the region are aware of the dangers of smoking which is responsible for nine out of ten cases of lung cancer, three out of four cases of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and one in four cases of coronary heart disease.

Public awareness has been raised in Australia, which, over the past few decades, has gone from having one of the highest rates of cigarette smoking in the world to one of the lowest. But in the wider region, especially in developing countries, the number of smokers is enormous - China alone has 320 million smokers, the vast majority of them men. Moreover, a recent report suggests that over 50 per cent of doctors in China smoke.

Dr Huxley has led an international research team - the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) - with more than 60 researchers from nine countries examining the impact of risk factors on cardiovascular disease. More than 650,000 people have contributed to the research from 44 studies in the Asia Pacific region since 1999.

The latest research findings indicate that the risk of dying from lung cancer among women who smoke is double that for men. But the study also reported good news for any smoker wishing to quit the habit: stopping smoking can reduce the risk of death from lung cancer by up to 70 per cent. Dr Huxley and her team are trying to help developing countries avoid the “growing pains” that western countries have already suffered. “There is an urgent need to promote public awareness of the harmful effects of smoking within the region - particularly in China, where the numbers of smokers are so high that even a small reduction in the number of people who smoke could save tens of thousands of lives. But if current smoking patterns persist, 100 million smokers in China will be killed by the habit by the end of this century,” she said.

The need for comprehensive tobacco control policies is also highlighted by the research: working with the health departments of developed countries, Dr Huxley suggests that the western model of preventing and controlling smoking can be applied in Asian countries, with strong government controls over tobacco companies and massive advertising campaigns.

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Poetry is a unique and creative art form that allows us to express and share aspects of our mental lives. We can convey our thoughts and emotions, or experience those of another writer, with a depth and insight that go far beyond simple description.

Someone might say to you, for example, that she feels “very depressed.” But if she were to craft a poetic treatment of those feelings, she might find herself using images of bleak winters and barren landscapes, which could then perhaps suggest abandoned hopes and lost opportunities to the reader.

I confess that I don’t regularly read poetry, but I often listen to it. I delight in the daily 5-minute program, “The Writer’s Almanac,” narrated by Garrison Keillor. It’s on some public radio stations, but is also available as a podcast or on the program’s Web site. Keillor usually ends his daily recordings by reading a poem in that sonorous baritone of his.

I pause from my other activities and allow myself to be briefly transported into the world of the words, where they have been selected and organized just right by the poet to convey feelings and shared symbols from one mind to another. Poems are about compression too: I often marvel at how so few words can express so much emotion.

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November is American Diabetes Month. So why should you be concerned about diabetes? Some statistics from the American Diabetes Association might pique your interest.

• Diabetes is the 5th leading cause of death by disease; currently, it’s a disease that has no cure.
• Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent, while the death rates from stroke, cancer, and heart disease have all declined.
• Worldwide, over 246 million people have diabetes. By 2020, that number is expected to rise to 380 million.
• Diabetes is costing our society. In 2002, $92 billion was spent on direct medical costs for diabetes. This means that 1 out of every 10 dollars we spend on health care goes to feed the diabetes beast. The total cost of diabetes to the U.S. each year is estimated to be $132 billion, which includes not only the direct costs but also $40 billion in such indirect costs as disability, work loss, and early death. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some interesting, and maybe even frightening health facts*, that you probably never knew about. After reading these facts, you might want to think twice about grabbing a cup of coffee or even drinking a glass of orange juice for breakfast! Want to be lazy and lose weight at the same time, just go to sleep!

1) Motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunk drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding .08!

2) Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

3) Some parts of the world protect their babies from disease by bathing them in beer.

4) The word ‘gymnasium’ comes from the Greek word gymnazein which means ‘to exercise naked.’

5) There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee. Of these, only 26 have been tested, and half caused cancer in rats.

6) The average American eats at McDonalds more than 1,800 times in their life.

7) A hard working adult sweats up to 4 gallons per day.

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Pilot screening programmes for abdominal aortic aneurysms in men aged 65 are due to be launched in England this year, but is this move too hasty? Two experts debate the issue in this weeks BMJ.

Around 90% of people with a ruptured aortic aneurysm die. But if the aneurysm is discovered before it ruptures and is repaired by an experienced vascular surgeon, mortality is around 7.4%, writes James Johnson, consultant surgeon at Halton General Hospital, Runcorn.

Around 5% of men aged between 65 and 74 have abdominal aortic aneurysms, but they rarely cause symptoms, so screening in this age group would potentially ensure that most aortic aneurysms are diagnosed and repaired.

But the case for screening is not clear-cut claims Johnson.

He points to wide variations in the mortality for surgical repair between hospitals in England. In addition, a number of patients will not be fit enough to have a repairaneurysm is a disease that rarely exists in isolation. Most patients will also have hypertension, or a history of myocardial infarction, stroke or diabetes.

As a result, a number of patients will be left with the knowledge that they have a life threatening condition that is liable to cause sudden death and that nothing can be done about it, writes Johnson.

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by Aimee Amodio 

The food you eat helps build a strong, healthy body — that includes your teeth! Adding a few simple things to your diet can help your choppers stay strong and healthy.

• Watch when you eat your carbs. Carbohydrates break down into sugars, which can be converted to plaque in the mouth. Plaque is the primary cause of gum disease and cavities! If you snack on carbs like chips, cookies, and crackers, foods can get caught between teeth and under the gum line, making it easy for bacteria to get to work. If you eat your carbs at mealtimes, you’ll be producing more saliva and washing food particles away.
• Behold! The power of cheese. Enzymes in cheese can help neutralizing acids and sugars that come from sodas and other sugary snacks. Follow your sugary drinks and snacks with a piece of cheese to help reduce your risk of cavities.
• Make sure you get your vitamin C. Folks who don’t get enough vitamin C in their diet are 25% more likely to end up with gum disease than people who ate enough — according to a study from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Be sure you get plenty of vitamin C: 180mg daily or more. Read the rest of this entry »

by Aimee Amodio

You can help keep your teeth healthy from the inside out — certain diet choices can help keep your choppers strong and shiny. Here are some tips to help protect your mouth against decay, disease, and more!

• Sugar isn’t the only thing that’s bad for your teeth — carbs can be just as damaging. After all, carbohydrates break down into simple sugars in your body. In your mouth, sugars are converted into plaque.
• That doesn’t mean you have to give up carbs! Just try to eat them only at mealtimes. Carbs are kind of sticky, so they tend to adhere between teeth or below the gum line. Eating your carbs at mealtime will give your mouth a chance to clean the carbs away. The more you eat, the more saliva you produce. Spit helps wash food particles away.
• Make sure you get plenty of vitamin C in your diet. Vitamin C helps hold all your cells together — from your skin to your gums. If you get less than 60 milligrams of vitamin C daily, you are 25% more likely to have gum disease than folks who get 180 milligrams or more every day. As a measure, one eight ounce glass of OJ contains 80 milligrams of vitamin C or more.
• Make sure you eat plenty of calcium in your diet. The majority of the calcium in your body lives in your bones and your teeth. 800 milligrams of calcium every day (for the average guy) will help reduce your risk of developing gum disease. Women under fifty probably need more — around 1000 milligrams daily. Women over fifty should get 1200 milligrams daily. Read the rest of this entry »

by Aimee Amodio

Are you ready for candy that actually helps cut tooth decay? It could be coming to a store near you within the next few years.

Researchers from the Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine developed a compound called CaviStat. CaviStat is a fluoride-free compound that mimics the way human saliva neutralizes acids in the mouth.

The researchers put CaviStat to the test in the form of BasicMints — a chewy candy designed to stick to the teeth and help prevent cavities in the back teeth. The mints were recently tested in Venezuela.

The study involved two hundred children between the ages of ten and eleven — children who were getting their adult molars but still had some baby teeth left. Ninety percent of cavities in children appear on the biting surfaces of the back teeth; the study hoped to show that BasicMints have a good chance of cutting back on cavities.

Sugarless gum helps fight cavities by increasing saliva flow in the mouth. BasicMints actively neutralize the acids that erode tooth enamel.

Half the children added BasicMints to their morning and evening tooth care routine: brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. The other half used plain sugarless mints. The results were striking — after just a year, the children who used BasicMints had more than sixty percent fewer cavities than the sugarless mint group!

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by Jonathan Gardner

In interviews with Health Affairs, government ministers in Germany and the Netherlands talk up market-oriented refinements to their universal health insurance systems for the future. But the news from Europe isn’t all happy: an unsettling survey in the United Kingdom finds that some physicians believe that the market will unravel the government-owned and -operated National Health Service (NHS) in the next decade.

The online poll of more than 500 general practitioners (GPs) conducted by Pulse, which describes itself as “UK’s leading medical weekly,” found that 84% believed that the NHS would not exist “as we know it” in ten years’ time and that only one-third believe that the NHS will be free at the point of use in the same amount of time.

Given that the publication does not disclose the survey’s methodology, it’s not clear whether the poll is reflective of British physicians’ attitudes. But it more than likely reveals an unease with some reforms within the NHS as well as incursions by the private market, including Richard Branson’s Virgin health centers, the first of which is scheduled to open this summer. Indeed, the Pulse poll reveals that one-quarter of its respondents had been asked to join a private firm, and the publication itself is mounting a campaign in opposition to the private clinics.

In a larger context, however, the place of the NHS in the health care systems of industrialized economies is in question. In the Euro Health Consumer Index 2007, the Stockholm-based Health Consumer Powerhouse scores the NHS as a “mediocre performer,” scoring seventeenth of twenty-nine on such indicators as patient rights and information, waiting times, outcomes, and the generosity of the medical and pharmaceutical benefit.

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