By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) Feb 11 - An outbreak of mumps that started in a summer camp last June has sickened more than 1,500 people in New York and New Jersey, state and federal health officials said on Thursday.
The outbreak is the biggest in the United States since 2006, when more than 6,000 people became infected, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its weekly report on death and disease.
School-age children in orthodox Jewish communities in New York have been hard hit. Officials said the group had high vaccination rates, but some had not been vaccinated or had only received one dose of the mumps vaccine.
The New York City Department of Health this week urged young Jewish adults to get vaccinated unless they knew they had been fully vaccinated in the past.
"Mumps can lead to serious complications in people who are not vaccinated, especially adults," said Dr. Jane Zucker, assistant commissioner for immunization.
Widespread vaccination with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine vastly cut the number of U.S. mumps cases to fewer than 500 in the early 2000s.
But concerns that the vaccine could cause autism, based on a discredited study that was retracted this month, prompted some parents not to protect their children.
Mumps made a resurgence in parts of Europe last year with outbreaks in Britain, the Balkans and Moldova.
The current outbreak appears to have started with an 11-year-old boy who returned from a trip to Britain in June and then attended a summer camp where he infected others. The illness spread as campers returned home.
As of January 29, 1,521 cases had been reported, almost two thirds among people aged 7 to 18. Nineteen people needed hospitalization, but none had died. Three quarters of those infected were male.
About 88% of those who reported their vaccination status had received at least one dose of vaccine, and three quarters of those infected had been given two doses.
The mumps virus can mutate, so people who have had only one or even two doses of vaccine remain vulnerable.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Childhood Obesity, Not Cholesterol, Linked to Death Before Age 55
High body-mass index, increased levels of glucose intolerance, and hypertension in childhood are all linked to premature death, according to a study of American Indians published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers assessed the BMI, glucose tolerance, cholesterol, and blood pressure of nearly 5000 nondiabetic children aged 5 to 19 and then followed them for a median of almost 25 years. Rates of death before age 55 among those in the highest quartile of BMI were more than double those with BMIs in the lowest quartile. Similarly, those with the highest levels of glucose intolerance at baseline showed significantly higher premature mortality, as did those with childhood hypertension.
Childhood cholesterol levels showed no association with early death.
The authors conclude that this evidence "underscores the importance of preventing obesity starting in the early years of life."
Researchers assessed the BMI, glucose tolerance, cholesterol, and blood pressure of nearly 5000 nondiabetic children aged 5 to 19 and then followed them for a median of almost 25 years. Rates of death before age 55 among those in the highest quartile of BMI were more than double those with BMIs in the lowest quartile. Similarly, those with the highest levels of glucose intolerance at baseline showed significantly higher premature mortality, as did those with childhood hypertension.
Childhood cholesterol levels showed no association with early death.
The authors conclude that this evidence "underscores the importance of preventing obesity starting in the early years of life."
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Train Like An Olympian
By HealthDay - Sat Feb 13, 8:48 PM PST
- SATURDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- You may not be an Olympian, but there are lessons you can learn from them if you want to improve your athletic performance.
"The Olympics symbolize the chance for all of us to push the boundaries of human potential. As I tell my students, if you want to compete at a high level, mimic the strategies of those at the top," Chris Sebelski, an assistant professor of physical therapy at Saint Louis University, said in a news release from the school.
Sebelski offered the following Olympian-inspired tips:
* Set a goal and break it down. For example, if you're planning a long hiking trip, you might start by walking three miles a day for the first two weeks, gradually building up to 10 miles a day by the end of 10 weeks.
* Be sure to cross-train. It reduces the risk of overtraining, helps avoid injury, enhances muscle performance and helps prevent boredom.
* Work out with others. Sharing a spirit of competition and encouragement will help keep your motivation at a high level. You'll also gain training benefits from working out with others with different levels of ability.
* Think of people who can help you achieve your goal, such as a trainer, nutritionist, physical therapist or physician. There are many different sources of help and you can select the one that works best for you.
While it's impossible for most people to devote as much time to training as an Olympian does, you can approach the workout time you do have with the single-minded focus of a world-class athlete.
"Train for a couple of weeks with focus and discipline, and lo and behold, you'll be surprised by what you can do," Sebelski said.
Anyone can experience the sense of achievement and pride that comes from striving to improve on their personal best.
"It's been said that running a marathon is now everyman's Everest. But that's true for every sport. You can train for the Sunday night bowling league, if that's your passion. The bowling championship may be your Olympics," Sebelski said.
"Regardless of the scale of your goal, you should have the experience, at least once, of training for and accomplishing a physical goal you set for yourself. Crossing that finish line is a feeling unlike any other."
- SATURDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- You may not be an Olympian, but there are lessons you can learn from them if you want to improve your athletic performance.
"The Olympics symbolize the chance for all of us to push the boundaries of human potential. As I tell my students, if you want to compete at a high level, mimic the strategies of those at the top," Chris Sebelski, an assistant professor of physical therapy at Saint Louis University, said in a news release from the school.
Sebelski offered the following Olympian-inspired tips:
* Set a goal and break it down. For example, if you're planning a long hiking trip, you might start by walking three miles a day for the first two weeks, gradually building up to 10 miles a day by the end of 10 weeks.
* Be sure to cross-train. It reduces the risk of overtraining, helps avoid injury, enhances muscle performance and helps prevent boredom.
* Work out with others. Sharing a spirit of competition and encouragement will help keep your motivation at a high level. You'll also gain training benefits from working out with others with different levels of ability.
* Think of people who can help you achieve your goal, such as a trainer, nutritionist, physical therapist or physician. There are many different sources of help and you can select the one that works best for you.
While it's impossible for most people to devote as much time to training as an Olympian does, you can approach the workout time you do have with the single-minded focus of a world-class athlete.
"Train for a couple of weeks with focus and discipline, and lo and behold, you'll be surprised by what you can do," Sebelski said.
Anyone can experience the sense of achievement and pride that comes from striving to improve on their personal best.
"It's been said that running a marathon is now everyman's Everest. But that's true for every sport. You can train for the Sunday night bowling league, if that's your passion. The bowling championship may be your Olympics," Sebelski said.
"Regardless of the scale of your goal, you should have the experience, at least once, of training for and accomplishing a physical goal you set for yourself. Crossing that finish line is a feeling unlike any other."
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Obeisty Screening Should Begin Early
By AFP - Sat Feb 13, 1:50 AM PST
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A team of US doctors has urged that obesity screening start in the cradle after a study they conducted showed that half of US children with weight problems became overweight before age two.
[AFP/Getty Images/File/John Moore] Two babies are pictured at a food store in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A team of US doctors has urged that obesity screening start in the cradle after a study they conducted showed that half of US children with weight problems became overweight before age two.(AFP/Getty Images/File/John Moore)
The "critical period for preventing childhood obesity" in the children observed in the study would have been in "the first two years of life and for many by three months of age," said the study, published in Clinical Pediatrics.
"Unfortunately, the chubby healthy baby myth is alive and well despite the high prevalence of childhood obesity, with only 20 percent to 50 percent of overweight children being diagnosed and even fewer receiving documented or effective treatments," the authors of the study said.
For the study, which was conducted to try to pinpoint the "tipping point" for when a child first became overweight, researchers looked at 480 medical records for patients between the ages of two and 20 at a private medical practice and a teaching hospital, both in Virginia.
Of those patients, 184 were included in the study because they met the age criteria, their weight and height had been recorded during five visits to the medical practice, and they were overweight during one of the visits.
The researchers found that the median age for when the children became overweight was 22 months. They also found that a quarter of the children reached their overweight "tipping point" at or before five months of age.
When the children who were overweight on their first visit to the practices were taken into account, the median tipping point age dropped to 15 months and a quarter of the subjects had a weight problem at or before three months of age.
The study recommends that health care providers begin screening for excessive weight gain "as early as possible" in order to prevent childhood obesity, rather than trying to reverse it once a weight problem as "spiralled out of control."
According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2007, nearly half of US children are either overweight or obese, said the study, which was published two days after First Lady Michelle Obama launched a nationwide campaign to push back childhood obesity.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A team of US doctors has urged that obesity screening start in the cradle after a study they conducted showed that half of US children with weight problems became overweight before age two.
[AFP/Getty Images/File/John Moore] Two babies are pictured at a food store in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A team of US doctors has urged that obesity screening start in the cradle after a study they conducted showed that half of US children with weight problems became overweight before age two.(AFP/Getty Images/File/John Moore)
The "critical period for preventing childhood obesity" in the children observed in the study would have been in "the first two years of life and for many by three months of age," said the study, published in Clinical Pediatrics.
"Unfortunately, the chubby healthy baby myth is alive and well despite the high prevalence of childhood obesity, with only 20 percent to 50 percent of overweight children being diagnosed and even fewer receiving documented or effective treatments," the authors of the study said.
For the study, which was conducted to try to pinpoint the "tipping point" for when a child first became overweight, researchers looked at 480 medical records for patients between the ages of two and 20 at a private medical practice and a teaching hospital, both in Virginia.
Of those patients, 184 were included in the study because they met the age criteria, their weight and height had been recorded during five visits to the medical practice, and they were overweight during one of the visits.
The researchers found that the median age for when the children became overweight was 22 months. They also found that a quarter of the children reached their overweight "tipping point" at or before five months of age.
When the children who were overweight on their first visit to the practices were taken into account, the median tipping point age dropped to 15 months and a quarter of the subjects had a weight problem at or before three months of age.
The study recommends that health care providers begin screening for excessive weight gain "as early as possible" in order to prevent childhood obesity, rather than trying to reverse it once a weight problem as "spiralled out of control."
According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2007, nearly half of US children are either overweight or obese, said the study, which was published two days after First Lady Michelle Obama launched a nationwide campaign to push back childhood obesity.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Stuttering: A Medical Mystery
(CNN) -- A new study brings researchers one step closer to unraveling a medical mystery that has perplexed scientists for thousands of years: What causes people to stutter?
Research appearing in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine reveals three genetic mutations in the brain cells of people who stutter. The cells are located in the part of the brain that controls speech, which suggests that genes could play a big role in the disorder.
"People have looked for a cause of stuttering for 5,000 years," said Dennis Drayna, a researcher at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and a co-author of the study. "Many, many things have been suggested as a cause of stuttering. None of them have turned out to be true. For the first time today, we know one of the causes of this disorder."
"These mutations affect a process inside cells that degrades things that the cells don't need anymore," said Drayna. "This process is called the garbage can, or more like the recycling bin, of the cell. When this process gets interrupted, the cell goes haywire, and that causes problems."
These problems, according to the study, may explain why some people stutter.
Stuttering, also referred to as stammering, is a disruption in the normal flow of speaking. For people with the disorder, speech comes out in fits and starts, certain syllables may be prolonged or repeated, and for some, stuttering is accompanied by involuntary facial tics.
Previous studies have suggested genetics as one possible explanation for stuttering, along with developmental delays and confused speech processing in the brain. But that knowledge can only go so far, said Drayna.
"Just knowing a disorder is genetic doesn't really help us understand that disorder at a level that, for instance, doctors would like to know," said Drayna. "Once we have genes, we know much more about the causes of the disorder."
Knowing the genetic underpinnings of the disorder could unlock even more genes associated with stuttering, which could lead to more specific diagnosis and treatment.
"People who are helped by one type of therapy might for instance be the people with mutations in one of these genes, whereas the people who are helped by another therapy are people with mutations in another gene that we've identified," said Drayna. "For the first time we can now begin to ask this kind of question, why do some therapies work well in some people and not well in others?"
Roughly 3 million people in the United States stutter, according to the National Institutes of Health. About 60 percent of those with the disorder have a family member who also stutters. The condition is most common among children, although about 1 percent of people carry the condition through adulthood, according to the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Michael Liben, 25, has stuttered for as long as he can remember, "since I began speaking," said Liben, a law student in New York. "I remember my middle school graduation. It was my job to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and it took me a while to get started, and it was probably the lengthiest Pledge of Allegiance in the history of America."
It's just great news for people who stutter to know that it's a gene.
--Tammy Flores, executive director of the National Stuttering Association
RELATED TOPICS
* Biology
* Genetics
* The New England Journal of Medicine
* Sciences
Liben said he suspected a genetic connection with his stuttering -- his mother Sindy Liben also stutters -- but what is most encouraging to Liben, and the stuttering community in general, is the study's confirmation of what they already knew: Stuttering is a problem with neither social nor emotional origins.
"It's just great news for people who stutter to know that it's a gene," said Tammy Flores, executive director of the National Stuttering Association. "It's not anything else. It's a gene."
Added Drayna: "An important point that's reinforced by our findings is that stuttering, at its basis, is a biological disorder. Even today, people seem to think stuttering might be an emotional disorder, or even a social disorder, and it's really very unlikely that either of those two things are true. I think the sooner that stuttering is recognized as a biological disorder, people can get down to using that understanding ... to better treat the disorder."
In an editorial appearing in the journal, Simon E. Fisher, an investigator into molecular mechanisms underlying speech and language, poses the questions that linger despite the discovery of "stuttering genes": Why would dysfunction in certain cells affect how one speaks? Are there other undiscovered genes associated with stuttering? Could this discovery help us to understand whether early stutterers will continue to stutter through adulthood?
"As with other neurodevelopmental disorders that affect speech, the task of connecting the dots between genes and stuttering is just beginning," said Fisher, a fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University.
Drayna emphasized that finding the genes for stuttering does not automatically mean a cure, but that better treatment and diagnosis is on the horizon. Groups like the National Stuttering Association are excited nonetheless.
"[Stuttering is] something that you will be able to identify," said Flores. "You will be able to couple that with speech therapy and support groups, and get help. It's very, very exciting to have all of this happening now."
Research appearing in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine reveals three genetic mutations in the brain cells of people who stutter. The cells are located in the part of the brain that controls speech, which suggests that genes could play a big role in the disorder.
"People have looked for a cause of stuttering for 5,000 years," said Dennis Drayna, a researcher at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and a co-author of the study. "Many, many things have been suggested as a cause of stuttering. None of them have turned out to be true. For the first time today, we know one of the causes of this disorder."
"These mutations affect a process inside cells that degrades things that the cells don't need anymore," said Drayna. "This process is called the garbage can, or more like the recycling bin, of the cell. When this process gets interrupted, the cell goes haywire, and that causes problems."
These problems, according to the study, may explain why some people stutter.
Stuttering, also referred to as stammering, is a disruption in the normal flow of speaking. For people with the disorder, speech comes out in fits and starts, certain syllables may be prolonged or repeated, and for some, stuttering is accompanied by involuntary facial tics.
Previous studies have suggested genetics as one possible explanation for stuttering, along with developmental delays and confused speech processing in the brain. But that knowledge can only go so far, said Drayna.
"Just knowing a disorder is genetic doesn't really help us understand that disorder at a level that, for instance, doctors would like to know," said Drayna. "Once we have genes, we know much more about the causes of the disorder."
Knowing the genetic underpinnings of the disorder could unlock even more genes associated with stuttering, which could lead to more specific diagnosis and treatment.
"People who are helped by one type of therapy might for instance be the people with mutations in one of these genes, whereas the people who are helped by another therapy are people with mutations in another gene that we've identified," said Drayna. "For the first time we can now begin to ask this kind of question, why do some therapies work well in some people and not well in others?"
Roughly 3 million people in the United States stutter, according to the National Institutes of Health. About 60 percent of those with the disorder have a family member who also stutters. The condition is most common among children, although about 1 percent of people carry the condition through adulthood, according to the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Michael Liben, 25, has stuttered for as long as he can remember, "since I began speaking," said Liben, a law student in New York. "I remember my middle school graduation. It was my job to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and it took me a while to get started, and it was probably the lengthiest Pledge of Allegiance in the history of America."
It's just great news for people who stutter to know that it's a gene.
--Tammy Flores, executive director of the National Stuttering Association
RELATED TOPICS
* Biology
* Genetics
* The New England Journal of Medicine
* Sciences
Liben said he suspected a genetic connection with his stuttering -- his mother Sindy Liben also stutters -- but what is most encouraging to Liben, and the stuttering community in general, is the study's confirmation of what they already knew: Stuttering is a problem with neither social nor emotional origins.
"It's just great news for people who stutter to know that it's a gene," said Tammy Flores, executive director of the National Stuttering Association. "It's not anything else. It's a gene."
Added Drayna: "An important point that's reinforced by our findings is that stuttering, at its basis, is a biological disorder. Even today, people seem to think stuttering might be an emotional disorder, or even a social disorder, and it's really very unlikely that either of those two things are true. I think the sooner that stuttering is recognized as a biological disorder, people can get down to using that understanding ... to better treat the disorder."
In an editorial appearing in the journal, Simon E. Fisher, an investigator into molecular mechanisms underlying speech and language, poses the questions that linger despite the discovery of "stuttering genes": Why would dysfunction in certain cells affect how one speaks? Are there other undiscovered genes associated with stuttering? Could this discovery help us to understand whether early stutterers will continue to stutter through adulthood?
"As with other neurodevelopmental disorders that affect speech, the task of connecting the dots between genes and stuttering is just beginning," said Fisher, a fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University.
Drayna emphasized that finding the genes for stuttering does not automatically mean a cure, but that better treatment and diagnosis is on the horizon. Groups like the National Stuttering Association are excited nonetheless.
"[Stuttering is] something that you will be able to identify," said Flores. "You will be able to couple that with speech therapy and support groups, and get help. It's very, very exciting to have all of this happening now."
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"Bored to Death" May Be More Than A Figure of Speech"
Associated Press
LONDON – Can you really be bored to death?
In a commentary to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in April, experts say there's a possibility that the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early.
Also Online
Get healthy living news and resources
Get science and medicine news
Annie Britton and Martin Shipley of University College London caution that boredom alone isn't likely to kill you -- but it could be a symptom of other risky behavior like drinking, smoking, taking drugs or having a psychological problem.
The researchers analyzed questionnaires completed between 1985 and 1988 by more than 7,500 London civil servants ages 35 to 55. The civil servants were asked if they had felt bored at work during the previous month.
Britton and Shipley then tracked down how many of the participants had died by April 2009. Those who reported they had been very bored were two and a half times more likely to die of a heart problem than those who hadn't reported being bored.
But when the authors made a statistical adjustment for other potential risk factors, like physical activity levels and employment grade, the effect was reduced.
Other experts said while the research was preliminary, the link between boredom and increased heart problems was possible -- if not direct.
"Someone who is bored may not be motivated to eat well, exercise, and have a heart-healthy lifestyle. That may make them more likely to have a cardiovascular event," said Dr. Christopher Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and spokesman for the American College of Cardiology.
He also said if people's boredom was ultimately linked to depression, it wouldn't be surprising if they were more susceptible to heart attacks; depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for heart disease. Cannon also said it was possible that when people are bored, dangerous hormones are released in the body that stress the heart.
Britton and Shipley said boredom was probably not in itself that deadly. "The state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for other risk factors," they wrote. "It is likely that those who were bored were also in poor health."
Others said boredom was potentially as dangerous as stress.
"Boredom is not innocuous," said Sandi Mann, a senior lecturer in occupational psychology at the University of Central Lancashire who studies boredom.
She said boredom is linked to anger suppression, which can raise blood pressure and suppress the body's natural immunity. "People who are bored also tend to eat and drink more, and they're probably not eating carrots and celery sticks," she said.
Still, Mann said it was only people who were chronically bored who should be worried.
"Everybody is bored from time to time," she said.
LONDON – Can you really be bored to death?
In a commentary to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in April, experts say there's a possibility that the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early.
Also Online
Get healthy living news and resources
Get science and medicine news
Annie Britton and Martin Shipley of University College London caution that boredom alone isn't likely to kill you -- but it could be a symptom of other risky behavior like drinking, smoking, taking drugs or having a psychological problem.
The researchers analyzed questionnaires completed between 1985 and 1988 by more than 7,500 London civil servants ages 35 to 55. The civil servants were asked if they had felt bored at work during the previous month.
Britton and Shipley then tracked down how many of the participants had died by April 2009. Those who reported they had been very bored were two and a half times more likely to die of a heart problem than those who hadn't reported being bored.
But when the authors made a statistical adjustment for other potential risk factors, like physical activity levels and employment grade, the effect was reduced.
Other experts said while the research was preliminary, the link between boredom and increased heart problems was possible -- if not direct.
"Someone who is bored may not be motivated to eat well, exercise, and have a heart-healthy lifestyle. That may make them more likely to have a cardiovascular event," said Dr. Christopher Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and spokesman for the American College of Cardiology.
He also said if people's boredom was ultimately linked to depression, it wouldn't be surprising if they were more susceptible to heart attacks; depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for heart disease. Cannon also said it was possible that when people are bored, dangerous hormones are released in the body that stress the heart.
Britton and Shipley said boredom was probably not in itself that deadly. "The state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for other risk factors," they wrote. "It is likely that those who were bored were also in poor health."
Others said boredom was potentially as dangerous as stress.
"Boredom is not innocuous," said Sandi Mann, a senior lecturer in occupational psychology at the University of Central Lancashire who studies boredom.
She said boredom is linked to anger suppression, which can raise blood pressure and suppress the body's natural immunity. "People who are bored also tend to eat and drink more, and they're probably not eating carrots and celery sticks," she said.
Still, Mann said it was only people who were chronically bored who should be worried.
"Everybody is bored from time to time," she said.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mediterranean Diet May Help Prevent Dementia
(CNN) -- Eating a diet rich in healthy fats and limiting dairy and meat could do more than keep your heart healthier. It could also help keep you thinking clearly.
New research shows that sticking to the Mediterranean diet, previously shown to reduce heart and other health issues, also may help lower the risk of having small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems. Known as brain infarcts, they're involved in vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia, after Alzheimer's disease.
"We've got these diseases of aging that cause disability, cost a ton of money to treat and manage, and wreck people's lives," said Dr. Gregory Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in this new study. "You've got to get in there and figure out what actually works for prevention, and not have people guessing."
A Mediterranean diet includes a lot of fruit, vegetables and fish, olive oil, legumes and cereals, and fewer dishes containing dairy, meat, poultry, and saturated fatty acids than other diets. It also involves small to moderate amounts of alcohol.
The study relates diet to strokes, said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center and lead author of the study. The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April.
An infarct, a kind of stroke, happens when the passage of blood is slowed or completely blocked by clotting. This study looked at people who had never had a clinical stroke, but may have had smaller strokes that went unnoticed. An MRI brain scan can detect these small strokes.
The study looked at 712 people over the age of 65 living in New York. Participants were asked about their diet and then, about six years later, underwent an MRI. In general, dietary patterns are consistent for at least seven or eight years, Scarmeas said.
Researchers found that people who most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were 36 percent less likely to have areas of brain damage, compared with those whose eating habits were furthest from the diet.
The study shows association, not causation, meaning there could be some other factors linking the Mediterranean diet to resilience against this form of brain damage. For example, other research has found that higher adherence to the diet seems to protect against hypertension, also associated with these brain problems.
But in this new research, when the scientists controlled for hypertension, the diet was still linked to a lower risk of brain damage. It is possible that the diet protects the brain vessels themselves, irrespective of other problems such as high blood pressure, Scarmeas said.
The participants who followed the Mediterranean diet the least had an increased risk for having strokes that was similar to people with hypertension. Those who most strongly adhered to the dietary regimen had a level of protection similar to people who did not have hypertension.
Scarmeas' previous research has shown that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Looking at 2,250 individuals from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, researchers found a 40 percent lower risk among those who stuck to this diet, scientists reported in the Annals of Neurology in 2006. The people involved in the brain infarcts study are a subset of that original group.
As many as 2.4 million to 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. Between 1 and 4 percent of people over the age of 65 have vascular dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Other studies have suggested that this food regimen may help in preventing second heart attacks, lowering cancer risk and stopping the need for diabetes drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The new study "gives you better evidence than ever that this is actually protective, and protective against the development of dementia," Cole said.
The risk factors for vascular disease overlap with those of Alzheimer's disease, he said. These include high blood pressure, high-fat diets, type 2 diabetes and low folate intake. People who have both Alzheimer's and vascular disease -- a condition called mixed dementia -- have a more rapid progression of Alzheimer's disease, Cole said.
A subsequent issue to address is whether a person must follow the entire Mediterranean diet in order to reap these benefits, or whether there are portions of it that contribute positive effects, Cole said. It would be easier for people to focus on adding particular elements to their diets -- for example, by taking fish oil capsules -- rather than trying to readjust their eating habits altogether.
Cole's own research deals with fish oil, which is relevant because fish is a component in the Mediterranean diet. The bottom line for dementia is that fish oil may help in the very early stages, but more research must be done to confirm this, he said.
In a study, his group found that DHA fatty acids from fish oil could delay or deter the onset of Alzheimer's disease in rats or older mice that had been genetically altered to develop the condition. Also, a recent study found that the DHA component of fish oil from algae helped people with minor memory impairment, but this needs to be replicated in order to be more definitive, he said.
When Scarmeas' group looked at the individual components of the diet, they found a stronger association between the overall diet and brain damage prevention than with any individual food in the diet, suggesting that the combination all of the elements may be producing the effect, Scarmeas said.
Researchers will continue to follow the participants in the study and check in on them every year and a half, Scarmeas said.
The next step would be to have controlled experiments concerning food and dementia in which participants are randomly assigned to follow a diet, Cole said. It is complicated in general to compare the benefits of a particular diet with the benefits of not following a different food regimen.
New research shows that sticking to the Mediterranean diet, previously shown to reduce heart and other health issues, also may help lower the risk of having small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems. Known as brain infarcts, they're involved in vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia, after Alzheimer's disease.
"We've got these diseases of aging that cause disability, cost a ton of money to treat and manage, and wreck people's lives," said Dr. Gregory Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in this new study. "You've got to get in there and figure out what actually works for prevention, and not have people guessing."
A Mediterranean diet includes a lot of fruit, vegetables and fish, olive oil, legumes and cereals, and fewer dishes containing dairy, meat, poultry, and saturated fatty acids than other diets. It also involves small to moderate amounts of alcohol.
The study relates diet to strokes, said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center and lead author of the study. The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April.
An infarct, a kind of stroke, happens when the passage of blood is slowed or completely blocked by clotting. This study looked at people who had never had a clinical stroke, but may have had smaller strokes that went unnoticed. An MRI brain scan can detect these small strokes.
The study looked at 712 people over the age of 65 living in New York. Participants were asked about their diet and then, about six years later, underwent an MRI. In general, dietary patterns are consistent for at least seven or eight years, Scarmeas said.
Researchers found that people who most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were 36 percent less likely to have areas of brain damage, compared with those whose eating habits were furthest from the diet.
The study shows association, not causation, meaning there could be some other factors linking the Mediterranean diet to resilience against this form of brain damage. For example, other research has found that higher adherence to the diet seems to protect against hypertension, also associated with these brain problems.
But in this new research, when the scientists controlled for hypertension, the diet was still linked to a lower risk of brain damage. It is possible that the diet protects the brain vessels themselves, irrespective of other problems such as high blood pressure, Scarmeas said.
The participants who followed the Mediterranean diet the least had an increased risk for having strokes that was similar to people with hypertension. Those who most strongly adhered to the dietary regimen had a level of protection similar to people who did not have hypertension.
Scarmeas' previous research has shown that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Looking at 2,250 individuals from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, researchers found a 40 percent lower risk among those who stuck to this diet, scientists reported in the Annals of Neurology in 2006. The people involved in the brain infarcts study are a subset of that original group.
As many as 2.4 million to 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. Between 1 and 4 percent of people over the age of 65 have vascular dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Other studies have suggested that this food regimen may help in preventing second heart attacks, lowering cancer risk and stopping the need for diabetes drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The new study "gives you better evidence than ever that this is actually protective, and protective against the development of dementia," Cole said.
The risk factors for vascular disease overlap with those of Alzheimer's disease, he said. These include high blood pressure, high-fat diets, type 2 diabetes and low folate intake. People who have both Alzheimer's and vascular disease -- a condition called mixed dementia -- have a more rapid progression of Alzheimer's disease, Cole said.
A subsequent issue to address is whether a person must follow the entire Mediterranean diet in order to reap these benefits, or whether there are portions of it that contribute positive effects, Cole said. It would be easier for people to focus on adding particular elements to their diets -- for example, by taking fish oil capsules -- rather than trying to readjust their eating habits altogether.
Cole's own research deals with fish oil, which is relevant because fish is a component in the Mediterranean diet. The bottom line for dementia is that fish oil may help in the very early stages, but more research must be done to confirm this, he said.
In a study, his group found that DHA fatty acids from fish oil could delay or deter the onset of Alzheimer's disease in rats or older mice that had been genetically altered to develop the condition. Also, a recent study found that the DHA component of fish oil from algae helped people with minor memory impairment, but this needs to be replicated in order to be more definitive, he said.
When Scarmeas' group looked at the individual components of the diet, they found a stronger association between the overall diet and brain damage prevention than with any individual food in the diet, suggesting that the combination all of the elements may be producing the effect, Scarmeas said.
Researchers will continue to follow the participants in the study and check in on them every year and a half, Scarmeas said.
The next step would be to have controlled experiments concerning food and dementia in which participants are randomly assigned to follow a diet, Cole said. It is complicated in general to compare the benefits of a particular diet with the benefits of not following a different food regimen.
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