Some 42,000 Americans die from secondhand smoke annually: study

WASHINGTON - Secondhand smoke is to blame for some 42,000 nonsmoker deaths annually in the United States, including nearly 900 infant deaths, according to a new University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study.

Altogether, annual deaths from secondhand smoke represent nearly 600,000 years of potential life lost -- an average of 14.2 years per person -- and $6.6 billion in lost productivity, amounting to $158,000 per death, the researchers say.




The new research, published on Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, reveals that despite public health efforts to reduce tobacco use, secondhand smoke continues to take a grievous toll on nonsmokers.

"In general, fewer people are smoking and many have made lifestyle changes, but our research shows that the impacts of secondhand smoke are nonetheless very large," said lead author Wendy Max, a professor of health economics at the UCSF School of Nursing.

Exposure to secondhand smoke is linked to a number of fatal illnesses including heart and lung disease, as well as conditions affecting newborns such as low birth weight and respiratory distress syndrome.

source: interaksyon.com

High salt consumption endangers US kids - study

WASHINGTON DC - Children in the United States consume too much salt, putting them at risk for hypertension and other health problems, according to a study published Monday in the science review Pediatrics.

The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that kids between the ages of eight and 18 took in an average of 3,387 milligrams of sodium a day, more than twice the 1,500 daily recommended by doctors.

The study monitored the diets of 6,235 youths and found that their sodium intake was about the same as that of adults, with more than three-quarters of the salt coming from processed and fast foods.

Too much salt is linked to high blood pressure -- a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and several other problems which were once found almost exclusively in adults, but which are now increasingly seen in children.

The risk of high blood pressure was particularly high among overweight and obese youths, the CDC said.

Health officials in the United States called the study's findings alarming.

"It's very disturbing that this nation's children and teens consume too much salt in their diets at school and home," said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association (AHA)

"High blood pressure, once viewed as an adult illness is now affecting more young people because of high sodium diets and increasing obesity," she said.

"While new nutrition standards for school meals are helping, progress is slow. This study strongly underscores the need to move faster because our kids are on an early path to heart attacks and strokes."

The AHA urged the US Food and Drug Administration to set mandatory limits on the sodium content of foods and urged federal authorities to make the reduction of sodium a national priority.

source: interaksyon.com

Cereals, nuts could cut risk of pancreatic cancer - study

LONDON - High in antioxidants, cereals and nuts might help cut the risk of getting pancreatic cancer, according to a study by British scientists published on Tuesday.

The study, carried out by researchers in University of East Anglia, involves 23,500 people aged between 40 and 74 years old, who reported their food diary with details as types and amount of every food they ate, as well as the methods they used to prepare it.

Researchers reported in the journal Gut that those who were in the top quartile for consumption of vitamin C, E and selenium together were at 67 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the bottom quartile.

Those nutrients are known as antioxidants and are present in several food types, including cereals, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

"Antioxidants may work by neutralizing carcinogens in cigarette smoke and also blocking toxic free radicals formed from the by-products of metabolism," said Dr. Andrew Hart, lead researcher at University of East Anglia.

"Other possible protective mechanisms include stimulating the immune system response," he added.

Cancer of the pancreas kills more than a quarter of a million people every year around the world, and 7,500 people are diagnosed with the disease every year in Britain, where it is the six commonest cause of cancer death.

If the link between diet and pancreatic cancer risk could be proved to be causal in further study, it is estimated that reasonable diet could lead to prevention of more than one in 12 of pancreatic cancers.

source: interaksyon.com

Late night TV/computer sessions linked to depression

Sitting in front of a computer or TV screen late into the night or leaving it on when you fall asleep could increase your chances of becoming depressed, according to a study by U.S. scientists.

The study, by a team of neuroscientists at Ohio State University Medical Center partly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, will give screen-addicted night owls pause for thought.





The researchers - who exposed hamsters to dim light at night and picked up changes in behavior and the brain that bore striking similarities to symptoms in depressed people - said a surge in exposure to artificial light at night in the last 50 years had coincided with rising rates of depression, particularly among women, who are twice as prone as men.

"The results we found in hamsters are consistent with what we know about depression in humans," said Tracy Bedrosian, who led the study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Although exposure to night-time light has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and obesity, the relationship with mood disorders is poorly understood.

The hamsters involved in the experiment were exposed for four weeks to dim light at night - equivalent to a television screen in a darkened room - and the results compared to a control group exposed to a normal light-dark cycle.

The experimental group was then moved back onto a normal cycle for one, two or four weeks before they were tested.

The results showed they were less active and had a lower than usual interest in drinking sugar water - both symptoms are comparable to signs of depression in people.

The similarity extended to their biological make-up. The researchers found changes in the hippocampus - a part of the brain - that were consistent with people suffering depression.

The hamsters exposed to dim light at night were also shown to produce more of a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a chemical messenger that is mobilized when the body is injured or infected and causes inflammation in its efforts to repair the damage.

"Researchers have found a strong association in people between chronic inflammation and depression," said Randy Nelson, who also worked on the study. "That's why it is very significant that we found this relationship between dim light at night and increased expression of TNF."

The scientists found that blocking the effects of TNF with a drug prevented signs of depression in the hamsters, though some other indicators in the structure of the brain were unaffected.

For instance, hamsters that were exposed to dim light at night still showed a much reduced density of dendritic spines - hairlike growths on brain cells that are used to send chemical messages from one cell to another.

The overall symptoms of depression were reversible, the researchers said. Those hamsters returned to a normal light-dark cycle saw both their TNF levels and the density of their dendritic spines return to normal after about two weeks.

"The good news is that people who stay up late in front of the television and computer may be able to undo some of the harmful effects just by going back to a regular light-dark cycle and minimizing their exposure to artificial light at night," Bedrosian said.

source: interaksyon.com