Mental Attitude: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Increases Dementia Risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 8,000-15,000 people per year in the United States are examined or treated in hospitals for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, commonly the result of faulty or ill-maintained gas burning appliance in the home. A new study indicates that patients treated for CO poisoning are 1.6 times more likely to develop dementia later in life, with an even greater risk for cases of more severe CO poisoning.
Medicine, January 2016
Health Alert: High Blood Sugar Can Increase Heart Attack Complications.
A new study suggests that high blood sugar can cause stronger contractions of blood vessels, increasing the risk of complications in heart attack patients. Researcher Dr. Richard Rainbow explains, “This is the first study to show direct evidence of blood vessel contraction to glucose, and the potential mechanism behind this contractile response. In the experimental models we used in this study, including human blood vessels, increasing glucose to the levels that could be reached after a large meal altered vascular contraction.”
British Journal of Pharmacology, January 2016
Diet: New US Dietary Guidelines.
The United States (US) government’s latest version of its Dietary Guidelines recommends that Americans cut back on added sugars, saturated fats, and salt if they want to improve their health. The new guidelines ask that people limit saturated fats to less than 10% of their daily calories and consume less than one tablespoon of salt per day. The guidelines go on to recommend a healthy eating pattern that fits into an individual’s lifestyle, rather than recommending specific amounts of different foods, such as fruits, vegetables, or meats. Elisabetta Politi, a nutrition director at the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center adds, “The 2015 dietary guidelines focus on healthy eating habits and less on including or eliminating individual nutrients… Americans should be shifting their diets to more plant-based foods like veggies and fruits such as the popular Mediterranean diet, which includes a lot of healthy fats and whole grains.”
2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, January 2016
Exercise: Increases Survival Odds for Men with Prostate Cancer.
The American Cancer Society reports that 1 in 38 American men will die from prostate cancer. A new study that followed 830 prostate cancer patients for over 15 years found that those men who were physically active both pre- and post-diagnosis had a greater chance of surviving the disease than those who lived mostly sedentary lifestyles. The researchers note that patients who increased their physical activity levels after being diagnosed with prostate cancer significantly increased their long-term survival odds.
European Urology, January 2016
Chiropractic: Pre-Pregnancy BMI Linked to Degenerative Musculoskeletal Conditions.
A Danish study involving nearly 80,000 mothers found that have a high pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) increases a woman’s long-term risk for developing degenerative musculoskeletal conditions. Other risk factors identified during the study include low and high gestational weight gain, higher postpartum weight retention, and the number of children a woman has delivered. The authors conclude that maintaining a healthy body weight pre-, during, and post-pregnancy may reduce a mother’s risk for developing degenerative musculoskeletal conditions later in life.
Arthritis and Rheumatology, December 2015
Wellness/Prevention: Regular Mammograms Worthwhile for Elderly Women.
Previous research has shown that mammography screening reduces breast cancer death in women up to age 74. Now, a new study indicates that regular mammograms also benefit elderly women. An analysis of Medicare data from 1995 to 2009 on about 65,000 women aged 75-84 years found that those who had annual mammograms were less likely to die from breast cancer over a ten-year period than those who had irregular or no mammograms.
American Journal of Medicine, January 2016
