Symptoms of Menopause Can Be Relieved by Weight Loss

Just like death and taxes, one sure thing in [a woman’s] life is menopause. Typically occurring in their late 40s and early 50s, women can experience a whole host of physical symptoms, chief among them weight gain and hot flashes. But weight gain—both before and during menopause—just may be precipitating those hot flashes and losing a few pounds could help to relieve the severity and frequency of them.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that weight loss among menopausal women resulted in improved or diminished flushing. Researchers conducted a six-month study of 338 overweight and obese women who were at least moderately bothered by hot flashes. Weight, body mass index, abdominal circumference, physical activity, calorie intake, blood pressure, and physical and mental functioning were assessed at baseline (and at 6 months). Then they were split into two groups: One group was put through an intensive behavioral weight loss program, while the control group underwent a structured health education program.

The intensive behavioral weight loss program was intended to produce an average 7-9 percent loss in weight during the six-month trial. To achieve this, calories were restricted to 1200-1500, activity was maintained at 200 minutes or more per week, and the women participated in weekly one-hour group sessions.

At the conclusion of the study, those in the weight loss program saw reductions in weight, BMI, and waist circumference and improvement in their hot flashes.

“Our findings indicate that women who are overweight or obese and experience bothersome hot flushes may also experience improvement in these symptoms after pursuing weight loss strategies; however, improvements in weight or body composition may not be the only mediators of this effect,” the researchers wrote.

Losing weight to minimize the effects of menopause can also benefit you in other ways. A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that weight gain throughout adulthood is linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer after menopause for women who do not undergo menopausal hormone therapy. Losing weight and keeping it off can improve your odds of keeping breast cancer at bay.

If you are interested in beginning your weight loss now, visit the HealthNews diet pages and test out our Individual Diet Selection tool, which can help find the right diet for you lifestyle.

Source: www.healthnews.com

ILLNESS AND DISEASE: SCREENING FOR CANCER NEEDS TO BE A PRIORITY

Most adults are getting recommended breast and colon (colorectal) cancer screenings. Screening for serious chronic disorders can allow your doctors to diagnose these diseases earlier when there has been less damage to organs, and this can preserve your quality of life. Yet more than 22 million adults have not had screening tests for colon cancer, and more than 7 million women have not had a recent mammogram to screen for breast cancer as recommended, according to reports in CDC Vital Signs.
Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, diagnosed in more than 130,000 new patients each year. For most people, the lifetime risk for developing colon cancer is about six percent, but the risk is more pronounced for those with hereditary colon cancer syndrome.
According to the American Cancer Society, cancer screening should begin at age 50. Regular fecal testing or periodic (every 5 to 10 years) sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is recommended. Colon cancer screening tests can find precancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer, thus preventing the disease. Screening tests can also find colon cancer early, when treatment works best. But only about one-third of Americans are following these recommendations, either because they are uninsured, uninformed, or want to avoid the unpleasantness of the test itself.
CDC statistics show that aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Almost 200,000 women are diagnosed each year, with over 40,000 dying from the disease every year. Currently there is controversy over the intervals in which breast cancer screening should occur. Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society stated last December that, “breast cancer screening saves lives and women aged 40 and above should get a high quality mammogram and clinical breast exam on an annual basis.” However the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) advises that women wait until age 50 to begin mammography screening.
The best way to find breast cancer is by having a mammogram (an X-ray of the breasts). Mammograms can find breast cancer early, before it is big enough to feel or cause symptoms and when it is easier to treat. About one of five women between the ages of 50 and 74 has not had a mammogram in the past two years. This may be because their doctor didn’t tell them to get one, they don’t have insurance and can’t afford one, or they don’t think mammograms work.
Are you getting routine cancer checks? If not, make an appointment today with your doctor. Do not become a statistic.

Source: www.healthnews.com

While it might not be burgers, per se, that cause the asthma, the lifestyle associated with eating fast food multiple times per week is a strong possibility. A group of researchers from Germany, Spain and Britain studied existing data on 50,000 children in twenty countries around the world, finding that nations that had diets heavy on junk food had a higher incidence of asthma in children.

Lead researcher Gabriele Nagel, of the Institute of Epidemiology at Ulm University in Germany, said, “This is a sign that the link is not strongly related to the food itself, but that burgers are a proxy for other lifestyle and environmental factors like obesity and lack of exercise.”

Conversely, those children whose diet was heavy on fish, fruits and vegetables had a lower incidence of asthma. Nagel explained that diets high in fruits and vegetables “contain antioxidants and other biologically active factors which may contribute to the favorable effect.”

Foods that are heavy and high in fat have a double whammy effect on asthmatics by causing inflammation of the airway and inhibiting their response to albuterol, a common asthma medication. Australian researchers with the University of Newcastle presented evidence last month at a health conference in New Orleans that high-fat foods play a role in airway inflammation. Asthma occurs when the lungs become inflamed and constricted. When the airway is also inflamed, there is a significant impact on already difficult breathing conditions.

Source: www.healthcare.com

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With over 1 million Americans diagnosed with skin cancer each year, it is wise to take precautions. Overexposure to the sun has been directly linked to the development of skin cancers, including the deadly form known as melanoma, but research has proven that the application of sunscreen can significantly reduce the chance of development.

Although applying sunscreen is a simple task, surveys show that almost one-third of Americans are not bothering with this simple yet life-saving effort. According to a 2009 survey of 1,000 adults conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 31 percent of Americans don’t use sunscreen at all while 69 percent only use it occasionally. The survey also revealed that men tend to use sunscreen less often than women. In addition, about 27 percent of parents having children under the age of 12 reported that they seldom apply sunscreen to their children for two to four hours of sun exposure, while 14 percent don’t apply any sunscreen to their children, even for a lengthy amount of sun exposure.

Considering the lack of use of sunscreen by many, it is vexing that one-fifth of those surveyed visited a physician out of fear that they may have skin cancer. Their fear is not unfounded. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. There are more new cases of skin cancer each year than there are occurrences of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer combined. It is estimated that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime. In addition, the incidence of melanoma is increasing at the fastest rate of the seven most common cancers with an expectation that 62,480 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, with almost 8,420 of them resulting in death.

To best protect against the development of skin cancer, The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends the daily use of a sunscreen having an SPF of 15 or higher. In addition, avoid the sun during the peak hours of 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. and avoid burning and tanning, including UV tanning booths. Apply sunscreen in the amount of 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) over your entire body at least 30 minutes before going outside and then reapply every two hours. As a further precaution, cover your body with clothing, as well as a broad-brimmed hat and wear UV-blocking sunglasses. Sunscreens may be used on infants over the age of six months. However, newborns must be kept out of the sun for total protection. Closely examine your skin on a monthly basis and visit your physician annually for a professional exam.

Source: www.healthnews.com

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Table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, sel de gris, fine grained, course ground, rock salt, herbed salt, garlic salt—the varieties are endless. Someone could open a salt store as big as a Starbucks and be able to fill all the shelves. We love salt and while it is essential to our bodies, overdosing on this popular flavor enhancer can be detrimental to our health, and there’s the rub. While you can find a salt shaker on every home and restaurant table, in almost every packaged product at the supermarket, and in 90 percent of recipes (desserts included), Americans tend to overconsume on the small white granules. Salt helps to maintain the water content in blood, balances blood’s acids and bases, and is essential for the movement of electrical charges in the nerves that move our muscles. But too much of a good thing can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. In addition, a diet high in salt content is often associated with weight gain. The National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association recommends a diet containing no more than 2.4 grams (approximately 1 teaspoon) of sodium per day. On the average, American men consume 10.4 grams of salt, while American women average a salt intake of 7.3 grams daily. These numbers continue to rise, with 75 to 80 percent of all salt consumed coming from processed food. The First Lady has spoken out about the need to limit salt in her campaign against obesity, and some manufacturers have gotten on the bandwagon, announcing cuts in sodium levels in their processed foods. Kraft pledged a 10 percent reduction, which translates into the elimination of over 10 million pounds of salt in over 1,000 processed food items. Additionally, a panel from the Institute of Medicine recommended that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulate the amount of sodium used in processed food, citing decades of recommendations that have not been heeded by the public. Given the amount of processed food purchased in this country, the belief is that the best way to reduce salt consumption is by regulating the companies preparing the food. Now the salt industry is pushing back. Cargill, one of the nation’s largest producers of salt, has hired food luminary Alton Brown to stump for sodium. The most recent ad, called Salt 101, has Brown trying to convince us that we need to have “plenty of salt in your kitchen at all times.” And while we do “need” it, we need it in lesser amounts than we are currently consuming and the food industry is loathe to lower or eliminate salt in its products, because of the flavor-enhancing capabilities. The answer could just be in cooking your own fresh food rather than relying on packaged ingredients. Doing so would eliminate the overuse of sodium, and overall would be healthier for you.

Source: www.healthnews.com

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Indoor tanning almost doubles the risk of dangerous melanoma skin cancer, and the more hours spent tanning, the greater the risk, according to a new study.
Those who used indoor tanning devices were 1.74 times as likely to develop melanoma as those who did not. Frequent users — who had more than 100 sessions or 50 hours of indoor tanning over 10 years — were at 2.5 times the risk of non-users, the study found.

That correlation, called a dose response, “is very important for helping to support that this is a causal influence,” said DeAnn Lazovich, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist who is lead author of the study, published online Wednesday in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Last year, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified tanning beds as carcinogenic to humans, and the United States Food and Drug Administration is considering revising requirements for tanning beds and strengthening warning labels about the risks.

The new study compared 1,167 Minnesota residents who had an invasive melanoma diagnosis from 2004 to 2007 with 1,101 healthy individuals. Some 62.9 percent of melanoma patients had tanned indoors, compared with 51.1 percent of the comparison group.

Source: www.nytimes.com

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Tonight a winner will be crowned on the popular reality show The Biggest Loser. Eleven pairs—twenty-two people—started this journey together and shared their pain and success with us every Tuesday night. With only four contestants left standing, we will see their final stories unfold and, no doubt, cheer their successes.

Losing weight is a difficult thing to do for most people, and for the morbidly obese—which would aptly describe the contestants on The Biggest Loser—the challenge can be even more daunting. But it can be done, and by doing so shave years off of your life. This year, the show employed a “Know Your Number Health Score,” which is a complex health risk assessment that gauges exact disease risk, identifies “internal age,” life expectancy and estimated preventable medical expenses. Shockingly, most of the contestants had an inner age that was 20-30 years more than their actual age, and the range of diseases that they suffered from or were in danger of having scared even Dr. Robert Huizenga, the show’s medical advisor.
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In last week’s ramp-up to the finale, contestants met with Dr. Huizenga to review their new Health Scores. Amazingly, they recovered a combined 132 years of life, not to mention reduced the amount of medication they were taking, improved sleep apnea, and reversed diabetes. (The final four also ran and completed a full marathon.) The “Know Your Number Health Score” is now being made available to the public.

NBC Universal and Reveille, the company behind The Biggest Loser, partnered with BioSignia, a leading biotechnology company to introduce The Biggest Loser Know Your Number Health Score. According to the press release, “BioSignia’s scientists and medical experts developed the technology that powers the state-of-the-art Health Score. This unique predictive tool was based on the results of more than 100 clinical studies, and was validated at the highly regarded Duke University Medical Center.”

The Biggest Loser Know Your Number Health Score will analyze a person’s health information including blood pressure, lifestyle habits, family health history, and recent lab work with glucose and cholesterol levels. After evaluating the data, a confidential health report including one’s Inner Age™ is generated. The report also maps out how to reduce risk factors. It’s a good tool to use at the start and the end of your weight loss journey to see not only the tangible weight loss and fitness results, but how your weight loss affected other, more unseen factors.
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Source: www.healthnews.com

Postpartum depression has long been the domain of women, affecting up to 30 percent of new mothers. Symptoms typically appear in the first twelve months after birth and can range from mild to severe. Typical factors in postpartum depression are changing hormones, lack of sleep, prior depression, and changes in metabolism.
In the case of men, the triggers are a bit different. While lack of sleep can certainly contribute, so can maternal depression, the financial and emotional stress of a new child, as well as prior bouts with depression.
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A meta-analysis on postpartum depression resulted in findings that 1 in 10 men suffer from postpartum depression, usually within the first six months of their newborn’s life. James F. Paulson, Ph.D., and Sharnail D. Bazemore, M.S., of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, reviewed data from 43 different studies on paternal postpartum depression. The studies included over 28,000 men and took place from 1980 to 2009. Their results appear in the May 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Analysis showed that postpartum depression among males was lowest in the first three months after birth (7.7 percent) but jumped significantly during the three-to-six month period (25.6 percent), something which is also see in women. Overall, the rate of paternal postpartum depression was pegged at 10.4 percent.
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While the overall rate is significantly lower than maternal postpartum depression, the role hormones play is also significantly less. The authors did suggest that “depression in one parent should prompt clinical attention to the other.”
The time period following birth is an extremely vulnerable and potentially volatile period. HealthNews column “Bringing in Baby: Pregnancy and Childbirth Made Healthy” has some effective tools to avoid postpartum depression.

Source: www.healthnews.com

Greetings from www.2vitamins.com !

As surprising as it may sound, citrus-based diet sodas may help in preventing the formation of kidney stones. Standard brands such as Diet Sprite, Diet 7-Up, and Fresca contain a compound called citrate (in the form of potassium citrate). Citrate is a known inhibitor of calcium oxalate kidney stones.
Kidney stones are little crystals developed in the kidneys that travel through the urinary tract into the bladder causing extreme pain. Side effects of a kidney stone can include nausea and vomiting as well as added kidney pressure depending on the size and length of time it stays within the body blocking the flow of urine. Kidney stones affect about 10 percent of the population and while women aren’t immune, men are four times more at risk of developing them.
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Kidney stones have a higher concentration during summer months when heat and humidity are at their highest. Because dehydration is common when it’s hot out, the kidneys don’t have enough fluids to cleanse out of the body and the kidneys start slowing down causing deficiencies and a buildup of chemicals within the kidneys due to dehydration can form painful stones. Water is the best way to stay hydrated, but there are other fluids that can rehydrate and work on preventing the kidney stones, namely citrus-based diet soft drinks—non-diet citrus-based sodas also fall into this category but are high in both sugar and calories—and fresh lemonade.
“Lemons are very high in citrates, which inhibit the growth of kidney stones,” according to Loyola professor John Milner. “Lemonade, not the powdered variety that uses artificial flavoring, actually slows the development of kidney stones for those who are prone to the development of kidney stones.”
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On the flip side, evidence suggests that men need to limit ice tea consumption, as it can make them at higher risk for kidney stones. Ice tea has a high concentration of oxolates, a main component in a common kidney stone. High protein foods like spinach, nuts and rhubarb also contribute to stone formation, as well as an over-consumption (daily dose of over 1,000 milligrams) of vitamin C.

Source: www.healthnews.com

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Disease and Illness: Stroke Patients May Benefit from a Prescription of…Chocolate

Stroke patients benefit from a number of regimens which require administration during the first few hours after the incident occurs. It is essential that they get to a hospital within three hours of the onset so they may get TPA or tissue plasminogen activator, which is a drug that bursts clots. And it looks like doctors may add cocoa to the list of items a patient should receive within that same time period.

Flavonoids, a compound found in cocoa, may increase blood flow to the brain, and have been linked to both anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Flavonoids are antioxidants thought to offer protective properties against cell damage caused by products of vital bodily processes, or environmental toxins.

A specific flavonoid compound called epicatechin, which is found in cocoa, triggers built-in pathways in the brain. A study of epicatechin, led by Sylvain Dore, of John Hopkins University School of Medicine, utilized mice who were induce to have strokes. Different dosages of the epicatechin were administered and resulted in reduced stroke damage.

“When we gave epicatechin after a stroke, it had a protective effect up to 3.5 hours later, but not after six hours,” said Dore. “The flavanol activated two well-known pathways that shield nerve cells in the brain from damage, the Nrf2 and heme oxygenase pathways.” Future research using an epicatechin compound will be conducted to assess the effect on not only stroke, but heart disease.
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Last month, an analysis of three prior studies of chocolate and stroke was conducted by researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Findings of the research indicate that eating about one bar of chocolate per week can help decrease the risk of stroke by 22 percent, as well as reduce the risk of death after a stroke.
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Chocolate, in various forms, has been shown to be heart healthy, lower blood pressure, and improve blood flow by helping to prevent formation of artery plaque. Natural, unsweetened cocoa powder has the greatest health benefits since no processing is performed on these products. Darker chocolates are less processed, meaning that they will most likely contain a higher level of flavonoids. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate having a high percentage of cocoa content would be the second best choice for healthy consumption. Milk chocolate offers the least health benefits, as it contains the lowest levels of flavonoids.
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Recognizing the signs of a stroke is essential to getting victims to the hospital in time to not only save their lives but to preserve quality of life. A stroke happens when the oxygen and blood flow are cut off from the brain. Most of the strokes that occur are ischemic, which occurs when the arteries are blocked by plaque, blood clots, or other fatty deposits. The second kind of stroke is called a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a vessel in the brain breaks and the blood leaks into the brain.
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The most common signs of a stroke include sudden weakness or numbness of the face, leg or arm, especially targeted on one side of the body; confusion, including trouble understanding or speaking; difficulty seeing out one or both eyes, or experiencing double vision; trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance; onset of a severe headache with no known cause.

Think “FAST” to help detect the sings of a stroke:

•F = Face. Ask the person to smile for you. Does one side of their face appear to droop?
•A = Arm. Ask them to raise both of their arms. Does one arm drift downward?
•S = Speech. Can they repeat a sentence that you say? Is their speech strange or slurred?
•T = Time. If you see any of these signs, immediately dial 911 or get them to the nearest hospital.

Source: www.healthnews.com

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