Health Now

While sterols occur naturally in small quantities in food (nuts, vegetables, oils), food manufacturers are adding them to processed foods in order to earn a "heart healthy" claim. The FDA approved a cholesterol-reducing indication for sterols , the American Heart Association recommends 200 mg per day as part of its Therapeutic Lifestyle Change diet, and WebMD gushes about the LDL-reducing benefits of sterols added to foods. Sterols--the same substance that, when absorbed to high levels into the blood in a genetic disorder called "sitosterolemia"--causes extravagant atherosclerosis in young people. The case against sterols, studies documenting its coronary disease- and valve disease-promoting effects, is building

March 13, 2009 -- Whether you drive, take the bus, or bicycle, being in heavy traffic triples your risk of heart attack within one hour. Air pollution from car fumes is the likely culprit, suggest Annette Peters, PhD, and colleagues at the Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center, Munich, Germany. In a previous study, Peters and colleagues found that a sizeable proportion of heart attacks -- about 8% -- could be attributed to being in traffic. To follow up, the researchers interviewed 1,454 people who survived heart attacks. In the hour before their heart attack, many of the survivors had been in heavy traffic. Analysis of the data showed that these heart-attack-vulnerable people were 3.2 times more likely to suffer a heart attack if they'd been in heavy traffic in the previous hour.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who get plenty of mushrooms and green tea in their diets may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, new study findings suggest. The study, of more than 2,000 Chinese women, found that the more fresh and dried mushrooms the women ate, the lower was their breast cancer risk.

Lower serum creatinine is a new risk factor of type 2 diabetes: the Kansai healthcare study. Harita N, Hayashi T, Sato KK, Nakamura Y, Yoneda T, Endo G, Kambe H. Diabetes Care. 2009 Mar;32(3):424-6. Epub 2008 Dec 15. PMID: 19074997 DOI: 10.2337/dc08-1265

Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Jakobsen MU, O'Reilly EJ, Heitmann BL, Pereira MA, Bälter K, Fraser GE, Goldbourt U, Hallmans G, Knekt P, Liu S, Pietinen P, Spiegelman D, Stevens J, Virtamo J, Willett WC, Ascherio A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Feb 11. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19211817 doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27124

Long-term ozone exposure and mortality. Jerrett M, Burnett RT, Pope CA 3rd, Ito K, Thurston G, Krewski D, Shi Y, Calle E, Thun M. N Engl J Med. 2009 Mar 12;360(11):1085-95. PMID: 19279340 [

MedWire News: Long-term exposure to ozone is associated with an increased risk of death from respiratory causes, researchers have found.\n\nA two-pollutant model in the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that levels of fine particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) were associated with death from cardiovascular causes, whereas increased ozone concentrations were associated with an increased risk of death from cardiopulmonary causes.

A reappraisal of the impact of dairy foods and milk fat on cardiovascular disease risk. German JB, Gibson RA, Krauss RM, Nestel P, Lamarche B, van Staveren WA, Steijns JM, de Groot LC, Lock AL, Destaillats F. Eur J Nutr. 2009 Mar 4. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19259609 DOI: 10.1007/s00394-009-0002-5

European experts in cancer and nutrition are meeting in Zurich, Switzerland late this month to discuss cutting-edge research in one of the most important and fiercely debated topics in cancer prevention: the link between diet and cancer. There is growing evidence that many cancers may be prevented through healthy lifestyle, including a nutritionally balanced diet. In addition, nutritional problems can also have a negative impact on cancer management and the lives of patients. Other presentations will include new data on topics such as: Childhood nutrition and later breast cancer risk The anti-tumour effects of green tea Malnutrition and patient distress in cancer Possible anti-tumour effects of soy extracts in mice Estrogens in beef and cancer risk

Increased dietary protein consumed at breakfast leads to an initial and sustained feeling of fullness during energy restriction compared to other meal times. Heather J. Leidy, Mandi J. Bossingham, Richard D. Mattes and Wayne W. Campbell British Journal of Nutrition (2009), 101:798-803 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0007114508051532

Sleep allows an overactive adrenal to rest overnight, also allowing your melatonin to give you a good night's sleep. Cortisol and melatonin are agonists, and fight for dominance. Cortisol is a stress hormone made by the adrenal gland and melatonin is an antioxidant sleep hormone produced by the pineal gland at night, in darkness.

Do you live in a big city or an area where you are sometimes forced to inhale car and truck exhaust? If so, you should strongly consider using a face mask, because exhaust causes arteries to lose their flexibility. Researchers writing in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology found that exposure to engine pollution resulted in arterial stiffness in a group of healthy volunteers.

Diesel exhaust inhalation causes vascular dysfunction and impaired endogenous fibrinolysis. Mills NL, Törnqvist H, Robinson SD, Gonzalez M, Darnley K, MacNee W, Boon NA, Donaldson K, Blomberg A, Sandstrom T, Newby DE. Circulation. 2005 Dec 20;112(25):3930-6. PMID: 16365212 doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.588962

Exposure to diesel exhaust induces changes in EEG in human volunteers. Crüts B, van Etten L, Törnqvist H, Blomberg A, Sandström T, Mills NL, Borm PJ. Part Fibre Toxicol. 2008 Mar 11;5:4. PMID: 18334019 doi:10.1186/1743-8977-5-4