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Increased intakes of folic acid by mandatory fortification of grain products to reduce neural tube defects may also reduce a baby’s risk of severe congenital heart defects, says a new study. The incidence of the heart problems was reduced by 6 per cent following mandatory fortification of grain products, introduced in Canada in 1998, researchers from McGill University and the University of Alberta report in the British Medical Journal.

LITTLE FALLS, N.J., May 13 -- Exercise regimens that burn more calories over less-intense periods of exercise can increase weight loss and reduce cardiovascular risk factors better than standard cardiac rehabilitation programs, researchers have found. Action Points  Explain that walking more at a slower pace improved weight loss and cardiac risk factors better than standard cardiac rehabilitation programs.Note that current cardiac rehabilitation guidelines were written when deconditioning after lengthy hospital stays was common, which is no longer the case. In a randomized trial, overweight patients who exercised more but with less intensity lost twice as much weight as those on typical cardiac rehab regimens and had greater reductions in markers of metabolic syndrome, according to Philip A. Ades, M.D., of the University of Vermont, and colleagues. "High-calorie-expenditure exercise is superior to standard cardiac rehabilitation exercise in accomplishing weight loss and favorably altering cardiometabolic risk factors, particularly insulin resistance, in overweight patients with coronary heart disease," the researchers reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Consuming cheese from ewe’s milk, rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), may reduce markers linked to heart disease, suggest results from a small Italian study. Researchers from the University of Florence report that ewe’s milk rich in cis-9, trans-11 CLA produced favourable changes in inflammatory cytokines and platelet aggregation, both of which are associated with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries due to the build-up of fatty deposits on artery walls. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of coronary heart disease (CHD), which costs the British public health system more than €5bn per year. “These observations, although preliminary and obtained in a limited study group, seem to be of relevance for the practical implications in terms of nutrition and health of the general population,” wrote the researchers in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.

ScienceDaily (May 22, 2009) — A new article in the journal Risk Analysis assessed various ways in which aerosol transmission of the flu, a central mode of diffusion which involves breathing droplets in the air, can be reduced. Results show that face protection is a key infection control measure for influenza and can thus affect how people should try to protect themselves from the swine flu. See also: Health & Medicine Cold and Flu Influenza Bird Flu Plants & Animals Bird Flu Research Virology Developmental Biology Reference Flu vaccine Influenza pandemic Transmission (medicine) Avian flu Lawrence M. Wein, Ph.D., and Michael P. Atkinson of Stanford University constructed a mathematical model of aerosol transmission of the flu to explore infection control measures in the home. Their model predicted that the use of face protection including N95 respirators (these fit tight around the face and are often worn by construction workers) and surgical masks (these fit looser around the face and are often worn by dental hygienists) are effective in preventing the flu. The filters in surgical masks keep out 98 percent of the virus. Also, only 30 percent of the benefits of the respirators and masks are achieved if they are used only after an infected person develops symptoms. "Our research aids in the understanding of the efficacy of infection control measures for influenza, and provides a framework about the routes of transmission," the authors conclude. This timely article has the potential to impact current efforts and recommendations to control the so-called swine flu by international, national and local governments in perspective. This study is published in the journal Risk Analysis.