Skipping Breakfast Increases Risk Of Heart Attack

10:33 AM

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Yet another reason to eat breakfast in the morning–doing so may prevent you from having a heart attack.

Skipping Breakfast Increases  Risk Of Heart Attack

A recent study of men aged 45-82 who regularly skipped breakfast demonstrated a 27% increase in risk of having a heart attack or developing coronary artery disease compared with those who ate breakfast daily. Although the research was done in older men, researchers believe the results may likely apply to the broader population as a whole.

It is important to note that this was an observational study, and cannot prove a cause and effect relationship between consumption of breakfast and risk of heart attack.

The research was published in the Journal, Circulation, July 22.

The researchers evaluated 27,000 men regarding their daily eating habits in 1992. Based on their results, 13% of the respondents stated that they routinely skipped breakfast. These men were all at least 45 years of age and had professional careers. Over the next 16 years, 1,527 suffered a heart attack-fatal or nonfatal.

After accounting for other variables such as smoking, alcohol use, diet, high blood pressure and diabetes, this equated to a 27% percent added risk for skipping breakfast.



More details of the study revealed that younger men were more likely to skip breakfast than older men. Other factors associated with skipping breakfast included smoking, drinking alcohol regularly, working full time, being unmarried, and being less physically active overall.

Of note, previous research has shown a relationship between skipping breakfast and developing high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes—all a precursor to the development of the dangerous metabolic syndrome- an important risk for heart disease.

What distinguishes the current study is the role of skipping breakfast and its future relationship to having a heart attack.

So why does skipping breakfast lead to an increased risk for having a heart attack?

Researchers believe that people who skip breakfast tend to eat larger, more calorically dense meals later in the day, often late into the night, to compensate for the lack of an early morning meal. They also tend to eat more meals later into the night.

Eating later into the night–the case for a small number of men in the study who awoke after initally going to sleep– was associated with a 55 % increase in the incidence of developing coronary artery disease. The overall risk, however, was perceived to be small, since only a minority of men in this study exhibited this behavior.

Ultimately, however, this means fewer hours in the day to process additional, more calorically dense foods, which lead to higher levels of blood sugars and more intense and frequent insulin spikes. This process is thought to be a precursor to premature development of coronary artery disease, more commonly termed atherogenesis.

One drawback of the study was that researchers did not ask what participants actually ate for breakfast. So whether they ate sausage, biscuits with gravy, or a big stack of buttery pancakes was never investigated. The question is whether eating fat laden, highly caloric breakfast foods is better than skipping breakfast altogether.

The issue of when you eat, as well as the content of what you eat is currently a topic of debate. It is unclear what is more important, but it is likely a combination of both factors that is pivotal.

The bottom line is that people who eat breakfast generally eat fewer calories throughout the day, and are usually healthier than those who do not eat breakfast.

According to data from the NPD group, as many as 10% of US adults–30 million people–routinely skip breakfast.

The take home message is that eating breakfast is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.

If results of the research examined here can be demonstrated in women, as well as among other races and ethnic groups, then eating breakfast may become an important preventive health measure for the public.


Of note, a January, 2013 New England Journal of Medicine article published this year called into question the concept that eating breakfast actually reduces obesity, examining various myths associated with gaining weight. The article evaluated data from two specific studies that demonstrated that breakfast eaters did not have a reduction in rates of obesity.

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Gold on Earth must have come from colliding dead stars

10:24 PM

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NEW DELHI: All the gold on Earth must have come from colliding dead stars, scientists have suggested after studying a gamma ray burst (GRB) that happened when two neutron stars collided on June 3 rdthis year.

It was known that gold must have cosmic origins like many of the heavier elements. But gold is so heavy that it could not be created even in stars, like iron. It needed a cataclysmic event for gold to be forged.

Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astronomy (CfA) observing the gamma ray burst last month found that a unique glow that persisted for days at the GRB location potentially signifies the creation of substantial amounts of heavy elements - including gold. The gamma ray burst was a death scream of two neutron stars colliding and merging, some 3.9 billion light years away.

Neutron stars are super-dense stars made of just neutrons. They are born after a star explodes in a supernova. A neutron star is said to have a density like a Boeing 747 compressed to the size of a grain of sand.

"We estimate that the amount of gold produced and ejected during the merger of the two neutron stars may be as large as 10 moon masses - quite a lot of bling!" says lead author Edo Berger of the CfA in a statement.

Although the gamma rays disappeared in just one-fifth of a second, a slowly fading glow dominated by infrared light persisted for some more time. Its brightness and behavior didn't match a typical ""afterglow,"" which is created when a high-speed jet of particles slams into the surrounding environment.

Instead, the glow behaved like it came from exotic radioactive elements. The neutron-rich material ejected by colliding neutron stars can generate such elements, which then undergo radioactive decay, emitting a glow that's dominated by infrared light - exactly what the team observed.

"We've been looking for a 'smoking gun' to link a short gamma-ray burst with a neutron star collision. The radioactive glow from GRB 130603B may be that smoking gun," explains Wen-fai Fong, a graduate student at the CfA and a co-author of the paper.

The team calculates that about one-hundredth of a solar mass of material was ejected by the gamma-ray burst, some of which was gold. By combining the estimated gold produced by a single short GRB with the number of such explosions that have occurred over the age of the universe, all the gold in the cosmos might have come from gamma-ray bursts.

"To paraphrase Carl Sagan, we are all star stuff, and our jewelry is colliding-star stuff," says Berger.

The team's results have been submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and are available online.

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Inadequate sleep during pregnancy can lead to complications

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Los Angeles: Scientists have shown that inadequate sleep during pregnancy can lead to complications and hinder normal immune processes, says a study.

Women with depression are more likely than non-depressed women to suffer from disturbed sleep and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine conducted the research and the study was published in the journal "Psychosomatic Medicine".

"Our results highlight the importance of identifying sleep problems in early pregnancy, especially in women experiencing depression, since sleep is a modifiable behaviour," said Michele Okun, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt`s School of Medicine and lead author of the report. "The earlier that sleep problems are identified, the sooner physicians can work with pregnant women to implement solutions."

There is a dynamic relationship between sleep and immunity, and this study is the first to examine this relationship during pregnancy as opposed to postpartum," added Dr. Okun.

IANS 

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Androgen deprivation therapy risk of developing kidney problems

8:50 PM

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The treatment, known as androgen deprivation therapy, lowers the risk of death among men with advanced, aggressive prostate cancer.

Coloured scanning electron micrograph of two prostate cancer cells in the final stage of cell division. Photograph: VVG/Science photo library

However, researchers said it's increasingly being used to treat possible recurrences among men with less advanced disease - for whom the benefits are less clear, and the risks more worrisome.

"Our study does raise the concern that perhaps we should be more careful in prescribing androgen deprivation therapy in patients who do not have the clear indication for it," said Laurent Azoulay, who worked on the research at McGill University in Montreal.

"It's all about the balance, finding the right population for which the benefits clearly outweigh the risks," he told Reuters Health.

Hormone-targeted treatment has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.

For their study, Azoulay and his colleagues used UK data on 10,250 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1997 and 2008. The men were followed for an average of just over four years after their diagnosis.

During that time, 232 of them developed an acute kidney injury - a rapid drop in kidney function. The researchers compared those men to 2,721others from the study who were the same age and were not diagnosed with kidney problems.

In total, just over half of the men were taking androgen deprivation therapy.

Azoulay and his colleagues found that men taking hormone-targeted therapy were between two and three times more likely to have their kidneys stop working, once their other health conditions and medicines were taken into account.

Unlike current use, past use of androgen deprivation therapy was not tied to a higher risk of kidney injury, the study team wrote Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Azoulay said it's possible that changes in testosterone and estrogen levels among men on hormonal therapy might affect kidney health and how the kidneys repair themselves after an injury.

If the finding is replicated in other studies, he said doctors should consider checking men's kidney function before prescribing androgen deprivation therapy.

Dr. Vahakn Shahinian, who has studied risks of hormone treatment at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the findings "a bit of a surprise."

He told Reuters Health that it's still not clear if a link between androgen deprivation therapy and kidney injury makes sense biologically.

"It's interesting, but it certainly would require some kind of further validation… before I'd be willing to believe that this was a real effect," said Shahinian, who wasn't involved in the new study.

Still, he agreed with Azoulay that doctors should be cautious about prescribing hormone-targeted therapy.

"Where there's a clear-cut benefit, people should continue to use it and not worry about this," Shahinian said.

However, he added, "it's in those settings where there's an uncertainty about the benefits that you have to be more worried about the side effects. And I think this adds to that list."

He said that if men's doctors prescribe androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, they should ask how much evidence there is for its use in their particular situation.

"They should find out if it's an area where there's been a clear-cut established benefit or if it's an area where there's a gray zone," Shahinian said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/MvXYT6 Journal of the American Medical Association, online July 16, 2013.

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Fat moms-to-be gives birth to bigger and fatter babies

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Moms-to-be who gain too much weight early into their pregnancy are nearly three times as likely to give birth to bigger and fatter babies, warns a University of Alberta researcher.

A study of 172 expectant mothers found that women who gained excessive weight during the first half of pregnancy gave birth to heavier and longer babies with more body fat than babies of women who either did not gain as much weight or put it on later in their pregnancy.

The results underscore the need to educate expectant mothers about the dangers of early weight gain during pregnancy and importance of healthy eating and exercise, said lead author Margie Davenport, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.

"Expectant mothers and health professionals need to be aware of pregnancy weight-gain guidelines and follow them to build a foundation for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby," said Davenport.




The study

The study included data from 172 healthy, expectant mothers living in London, Ontario, between 1995 and 2011. The women were non-smokers with a body mass index of at least 18.5 when they were between 16 and 20 weeks pregnant. A BMI below 18.5 is considered too thin; anything above 25 is considered overweight.

All women in the study were encouraged to follow a basic exercise program of three to four aerobic workouts a week. They also had access to eating guidelines to promote healthy weight gain during pregnancy.

Maternal weight gain was scored against the 2009 Institute for Medicine guidelines for pregnancy, comparing data with their pre-pregnancy BMI.

More than half of the study participants – 52% – gained excessive weight during their pregnancies; however, women who gained weight during the first half of their pregnancy were 2.7 times more likely to give birth to bigger, heavier babies. These babies also had excessive body fat, greater than 14%.

"Healthy eating and physical activity when pregnant have long-lasting benefits to mother and child," Davenport said. "Infants who are larger at birth tend to become larger children, and that creates a risk for developing into obese and overweight children and adults."

Eating for two

Sarah O'Hara knows the dangers of gaining too much weight too quickly, both as a new mom and a registered dietitian who specialises in obstetrics. One of the key challenges to ensuring expectant mothers eat properly is overcoming the old saying "eating for two", she said.

"For many mothers, eating for two is taken too literally. People feel like they've been given an allowance to eat whatever they want, and that can lead to weight gain," said O'Hara, a University of Alberta graduate.

During her own pregnancy she closely monitored her weight, stayed active and followed the Canada Food Guide, adding additional servings later in the pregnancy and eating extra dairy and protein, and limiting caffeine.

Staying active hasn't been a challenge for Carolyn Terry, who is seven months pregnant. A yoga instructor and University of Alberta graduate in kinesiology, Terry said expectant moms like her can maintain their physical activity levels, although some modification may be required.

"You have to work at your own level and listen to your body," she said.

EurekAlert

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Study : Statin-takers are less likely to die from cancer

10:04 AM

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Washington, July 14 (ANI): A new study suggests that Statin-takers are less likely to die from cancer.

Enzyme-inhibiting drugs known as statins have been widely used to lower cholesterol for decades.

Now, the new study suggests that they may offer other benefits beyond their typical use, CBS News reported.

Currently, statins are primarily prescribed to control cholesterol, and are typically prescribed if your total cholesterol is 240 or above, or if your LDL (a.k.a. "bad" cholesterol) is over 130. Some commonly prescribed statins are Crestor, Lipitor and Zocor.

The new study indicates that the drugs were safer than originally thought.

Researchers who looked at data from more than 250,000 people found that the drugs are safe.

Statins not only lower cholesterol, but research has shown that they can also decrease inflammation throughout the body, which leads many physicians to argue that statins can be used to treat problems associated with it.

Statins' heart benefits outweigh diabetes risk in pill-takers, study has shown.

In addition to lowering cholesterol, statins lower inflammation in the body, particularly in the blood vessels.

Inflammation is linked to a number of other diseases: Alzheimer's disease, a number of forms of cancer, strokes.

The drugs could also cause muscle pain or damage, nausea, headaches, or elevated liver enzymes.

The findings are published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. (ANI)

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Study:Earth’s 6-year twitch alters day length

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LONDON : Periodic jumps generated in the Earth’s core change the length of a day every 5.9 years on our planet, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool in UK studied the variations and fluctuations in the length of day over a one to 10 year period between 1962 and 2012.

Study:Earth’s 6-year twitch alters day length

They found that variations in the length of day over periods of between one and 10 years are caused by processes in the Earth’s core.

The Earth rotates once per day, but the length of this day varies. A year, 300 million years ago, lasted about 450 days and a day would last about 21 hours, researchers said.

As a result of the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation the length of day has increased.

The rotation of the Earth on its axis, however, is affected by a number of other factors — for example, the force of the wind against mountain ranges changes the length of the day by plus or minus a millisecond over a period of a year.

Professor Richard Holme, from the School of Environmental Sciences studied the variations and fluctuations in the length of day over a one to 10 year period between 1962 and 2012.

The study took account of the effects on the Earth’s rotation of atmospheric and oceanic processes to produce a model of the variations in the length of day on time scales longer than a year.

“The model shows well-known variations on decadal time scales, but importantly resolves changes over periods between one and 10 years,” said Holme.

Previously these changes were poorly characterised; the study shows they can be explained by just two key signals, a steady 5.9 year oscillation and episodic jumps which occur at the same time as abrupt changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, generated in the Earth’s core.

“This study changes fundamentally our understanding of short-period dynamics of the Earth’s fluid core. It leads us to conclude that the Earth’s lower mantle, which sits above the Earth’s outer core, is a poor conductor of electricity giving us new insight into the chemistry and mineralogy of the Earth’s deep interior,” said Holme.

The study was published in the journal Nature.

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Extinct insects help scientists how animals respond to global climate change

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TORONTO: Biologists have discovered a new, extinct family of insects that will help scientists better understand how some animals responded to global climate change and the evolution of communities.

The researchers have named the new family the Eorpidae, after the Eocene Epoch, the age when these insects lived some 50 million years ago.

The fossils were found in British Columbia and Washington state, most prominently at the McAbee Fossil Beds near Cache Creek.

This new family raises questions about its extinction. Insect families have steadily accumulated since before the Eocene, with few, scattered losses - apart from the distinct exception of a cluster of family extinction within a group of scorpionflies that includes the Eorpidae.

"The Eorpidae was part of a cluster of six closely related families in the Eocene, but today this group is reduced to two. Why were these different?" said Bruce Archibald from Simon Fraser University in Canada.

"We believe the answer may lay in a combination of two large-scale challenges that would have hit them hard: the evolutionary diversification of a strong competitive group and global climate change," he said.

In a major evolutionary diversification, ants evolved from a small group to become major ecological players in the Eocene, now competing with these scorpionflies for the same food resource in a whole new, efficient manner.

"These scorpionfly families appear to have retained their need to inhabit cooler climates, but to persist there, they would need to evolve toleration for cold winters, a feat that only the two surviving families may have accomplished," Archibald said.

"Understanding the evolutionary history of these insects adds another piece to the puzzle of how animal communities change as climate does but in this case, when an interval of global warming ends," he said.

The study was published in the Journal of Paleontology.

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