The Most Salutary Vegetables

Vegetables are doubtless salutary foods. They are rich in crucial nutrients, and another precious benefit they offer is a lot of dietary fibre. That is why it is recommended to consume vegetables in sufficient amounts, with daily quotas of at least five servings. Vegetables enhance people's immunity to diseases that plague humanity.

The most salutary vegetables, according to a number of classifications, comprise tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, eggplants, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, spinach, onions. In fact, the list of healthy vegetables could be continued, but let us dwell on the shortlist of the most salutary ones presented above.

Tomatoes are technically a type of fruit, but they are staples in salads, and their cancer fighting qualities have long been known to people. The vitamins contained in tomatoes are a prerequisite for good health as well.

Broccoli is an outstanding example of a powerfully salutary vegetable. They are packed with lots of antioxidants, and thus instrumental in reducing the hazard of a number of cancer varieties. Thanks to the amount of beta carotene and vitamin C, broccoli is also a natural means of preventing flu and colds.

Carrots are another staple on the table, and another dignified member of the most salutary vegetables' group. The nutrients contained in carrots are strong protectors of the human eyes, skin and hair. Another precious ingredient in carrots, vitamin C, helps people who regularly eat carrots to stay protected from cardiovascular diseases.

Eggplants are another treasure trove of antioxidants, but they are also replete with fiber, and they contain potassium that is why they are pointed out as vegetables that reduce the risk of stroke and the development of dementia.

Bell peppers are not only enjoyable for the eye with the profusion of colours. They are also rich in heart healthy substances, such as lycopene and folic acid. Bell peppers are also indicated as lowering the risk of development of cancer.

Spinach is chlorophyll packed, and also rich in vitamins and nutrients. They are recommended not only as protecting people from heart diseases, but also as lowering the risk of arthritis and osteoporosis.

Onions are welcome in salads, but they have other properties too. They are a healthy choice, especially recommended for people who suffer from osteoporosis, or people who are at risk of developing it. That is due to the content of peptide which is called GPCS and is believed to slow down the loss of calcium in the body. Heart disease risks can also be significantly lowered thanks to onion consumption. People at risk of developing diabetes should also choose onions as a health building food.

Each of the most salutary vegetables has its health boosting properties. Healthy people can combine them in their daily diet, to be certain to keep their health on a good level. People at risk of developing certain diseases should consume sufficient amounts of the salutary vegetable that is the best in fighting the respective condition. But doubtless each person should stick to the list of the above most salutary vegetables when shopping and planning the individual or daily meals.

The article has been submitted by Marble Arch Relocations

Medically unnecessary procedures are part of culture of disability in Eastern Kentucky, professor writes

St. Joseph London Hospital is taking heat over accusations of performing medically unnecessary cardiac catheterizations and other invasive cardiac procedures, and a look at the health data by a Kentucky physician suggests that the phenomenon is broader and reflects cultural problem in Eastern Kentucky.

An examination of health data by Dr. Peter Hasselbacher, a retired internist and professor emeritus at the University of Louisville, confirmed that St. Joseph London performed a large number of invasive heart procedures for such a relatively small, rural hospital.  Many patients have sued the hospital, alleging unnecessary procedures, notes a story in The Courier-Journal.  And when the hospital came under federal supervision, the frequency of its most commonly performed stent-angioplasty procedure dropped by 37 percent, Hasselbacher reports on his Kentucky Health Policy Institute blog.

As the number of St. Joseph London procedures dropped sharply, there was a more dramatic increase in catheterizations and angioplasties statewide. From 2010 to 2011, the number of the most commonly reported angioplasties in Kentucky increased from 12,803 to 22,688, a 77 percent increase, reports Hasselbracher.

This map showing how many people living in each of Kentucky’s counties underwent a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in 2010. This is the most common invasive cardiac procedure in Kentucky and is used to prevent and treat heart attacks.

In this map, the darker the shade of blue, the greater percentage of people living in that county had an angioplasty in 2010. The differences among the counties is staggering. It ranges from a low of 42 people per 100,000 in a single year, all the way up to 1,700 per 100,000 – a 40-fold difference. In the counties with the highest rates, between 1 percent  and 2 percent of the county's population underwent the procedure in a single year.

These rates are based on where people live, rather than where they go to the hospital, and the counties with the highest rates are in Appalachia. Hasselbacher calls Eastern Kentucky is "an angioplasty factory" and says the phenomenon can't be be fully explained by the simple fact that people in the region are sicker than those in the rest of the state; he offers another explanation.

"It is my belief that a major, perhaps even the major segment of the economy of Eastern Kentucky revolves around the getting of disability and the keeping of disability" and its government benefits, Hasselbacher writes. "As other industries such as coal and tobacco have faded in importance, the pursuit of disability, medically justified and not, has drained away resources from medical services into an ersatz unemployment and social support program."

Hasselbacher, left, says he doesn't wish to imply that the people of Eastern Kentucky are morally distinguishable from the rest of us, or that their health-care professionals are any less professional. He acknowledges that the region has had an uphill struggle for many years, and it is easy for providers to fall into the trap of wanting to do everything and anything to help patients.

"A culture has evolved in which being sick or just having a diagnosis of being sick is a gateway to economic security for people and professionals alike," Hasselbacher writes. "Some patients, doctors, hospitals, and lawyers wittingly or unwittingly support that process. Doing medially unnecessary diagnostic testing and treatment is part of that culture. It is also good for business." (Read more)   

First major study of diet and strokes links fried, sugary Southern diet, low on fruits and vegetables, to increased risk

Genuine Kentucky fried platter:
Cornbread, fried catfish, fried green
tomatoes, fried apples and fried okra
(Photo from Ramsey's, Lexington)

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

People with a Southern diet, or one heavy on fried food and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soft drinks, are more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain people in the nation's "stroke belt" or southern states suffer more of them, reports Marilynn Marchione of The Associated Press.

These findings have important implications for Kentuckians because stroke accounts for 5.5 percent of Kentucky deaths each year and more than 81 percent of Kentucky adults eat fruit and vegetables fewer than 5 times a day, which is a indicator of risk for stroke:

Heart Disease and Stroke Risk Factors from federal Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System national survey	Ky.	U.S.
Eat fruits and vegetables less than 5 times/day	81.6	75.6
Overweight or obese	69.1	62.9
No moderate or vigorous physical activity	55.8	50.5
High total blood cholesterol	38.5	37.6
High blood pressure	30.0	27.8
Cigarette smoking	28.2	19.8
Diabetes	9.9	8.0

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.  For the study, a southern diet also included jerky, red meat, eggs, and whole milk.


Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure and sweet drinks increases risk for diabetes- both are known stroke risk factors, Judd said.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of "Southern" foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk, reports Marchione.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week. 

These findings were reported last week at the American Stroke Association conference. The study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them.

Stroke death rates in Kentucky vary widely among counties. Here's a county map of the rates, from KentuckyHealthFacts.org, which has a county-by county list:

The map shows stroke rates in ranges per 100,000 population from 2003 through 2007. Purple counties had rates above 69; blue counties ranged from 52 to 69; turquoise were 44 to 52; light blue were 31 to 44 (the number that is about the national average), and tan were 18 to 31.

Small steps can prevent Kentucky's No. 1 killer, heart disease

It is now February, which is American Heart Month and a perfect time to remind people that small steps can reduce their risk of heart disease, Kentucky's No. 1 killer.

You may be surprised to hear that almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable and there are daily things that can be done to keep hearts healthy, according Dr. Martha Grogan, medical editor-in-chief of Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life.

For example, try to move 10 extra minutes each day, Recent research shows a sedentary lifestyle may increase your risk of heart attack almost as much as smoking, said Grogan.

Each day, make an effort to get up from your desk to go talk to a colleague instead of sending an email, or walk around the house as you are talking on the phone, she recommends: “Moving even 10 minutes a day for someone who’s been sedentary may reduce the risk for heart disease by 50 percent.”

Hearts are also hurt when you deprive yourself of sleep, which is a necessity like food and water, said Virend Somers, a Mayo cardiologist and sleep expert. Chronic sleep deprivation can increase the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and depression.

Healthy habits can reduce a majority of risks for heart attack. "A 53-year-old male smoker with high blood pressure has a 20 percent chance of having a heart attack over the next 10 years. If he stops smoking, his risk drops to 10 percent; if he takes high blood pressure medicine, it falls to 5 percent," says preventive cardiologist Randal Thomas, M.D.

These healthy habits and changes like quitting smoking and taking blood pressure medicine can make a difference in life and death. For more from the Mayo Clinic, click here; for a American Heart Month information from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, go here.

Children with TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to have extra fat, three times greater risk of heart disease and diabetes

Kids who have TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to be fat and nearly three times as likely to be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as those who don’t, according to a new study that elevates concerns about health and screen time. The research, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, studied 369 children, 5 to 18, who have TVs in their rooms and watched more than five hours of television a day. They showed dramatic evidence of extra belly fat, bigger waists, greater risk of heart disease and diabetes and elevated triglycerides, or fat in their bloodstream, said Amanda Staiano, a scientist with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. (Getty Images photo)

A 2010 study cited by Staiano indicated that 70 percent of American children have a TV in their bedroom. In the Pennington study, 66 percent of the kids had a TV in the room and the precise relationship between TV and health, as measured by height, weight, waist measurements, blood pressures, fat deposits and other exams, revealed the stark disparity between the groups with and without their own TV. (Read more)

One S.C. county serves as incubator for state's efforts to battle weight problems, with some good results

PE teacher Sharon Williams, right,
leads morning exercises before
classes start at Bells Elementary.
(The State photo by Tim Dominick)

With nearly two-thirds of South Carolina deemed overweight or worse, lucky Colleton County got picked to be a test case for doing better. That is, for improving its chances to beat the state's already overwhelming rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke and for helping to lower the state's $1.2 billion dollar medical bill. Lucky, because in 2010, the county was awarded almost a half million Eat Smart Move More grant by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation to see if it could promote health eating and more physical exercise countywide. Joey Hollerman of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reports that "the results have been striking," though he notes that changing obesity numbers is "like turning an aircraft carrier, it's a slow process." Mostly, he's talking about attitude and perseverance.

How does the county-wide program work on a daily basis? First, of course, you have to have buy-in, which this county did. Hollerman explains that now when children arrive at Bells Elementary School in the county seat of Walterboro, "they go straight to the gym and walk laps before heading to classrooms. Worshipers at Power of Faith Delivery Ministry harvest collards as well as souls, and fried chicken is discouraged at church dinners. The local farmers market has a sparkling new home and a system set up to accept cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." The Let’s Go, Eat Smart program and exercise programs are posted in schools, workplaces, grocery stores and churches.

So how, if the numbers aren't clear yet, how to measure if it's working? Well, only one fried chicken basket showed up at a recent church supper and the member who brought it ended up apologizing for her breach. On the day the reporter visited only the elementary school only one child in the entire first grade tried to slip through without selecting a fruit or vegetable. He was sent back and grabbed a plastic container of grapes from the Go (instead of the Slow or Whoa) food options, Hollerman reports. There are also anecdotes galore, including those of children, once on insulin, who are now fine without it.

South Carolin's BlueCross BlueShield recently awarded another grant to Eat Smart Move More, in part to continue the work in Colleton County but also to for expand it to other communities. (Read more)

UK, ARH planning efforts against high rate of heart-disease deaths and limited availability of proper food in Perry County

The death rate from heart disease is nearly twice as high in Perry County (Wikipedia map) as in Kentucky as a whole, so there's no better time than now to announce that the University of Kentucky Medical Center is close to finalizing a three-year agreement with Hazard Appalachian Regional Healthcare Medical Center to provide continuing care, outreach and education to local physicians and county residents, including more and better information about heart-healthy food choices. Bailey Richards of the Hazard Herald reports that this last task is daunting, particularly since availability of good food is an issue in remote parts of the county.

Richards writes that a 2011 study of the heart-healthy food options in Perry County "showed that the area severely lacks low-fat and low-sodium options." Kevin Luley, a registered nurse at the UK Medical Center and winner of the "Heart Health in Rural Kentucky" grant, surveyed all of the restaurants and grocery stores in Perry County and found that most do not have many off-the-shelf options for a healthy diet. Of all of the items available at the restaurants in Perry County, fewer than 6 percent were considered healthy. (Residents can consult their own smartphones for that information. It should also be posted or available upon request.) Of a standard list of produce items, on average only 60 percent were found at the local grocery stores, Luley found. (Read more)

U of L doctor tells American Heart Association that cardiac stem-cell research shows a lot of promise

Dr. Roberto Bolli

Promising results are coming from research that uses patients’ own cardiac stem cells to heal their hearts, a Louisville doctor told colleagues this week at an American Heart Association meeting in Los Angeles.

Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal reports that Dr. Roberto Bolli, lead author of the clinical trial and chief of cardiovascular medicine and director of the Institute of Molecular Cardiology at the University of Louisville, said cardiac stems cells may someday be used to treat heart failure caused by muscle scarring after a heart attack.

Bolli, who partnered with Dr. Piero Anversa of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston on the research, explained that their research showed that hearts in patients treated with their stem cells had greater pumping power, and benefits continued to increase as long as two years after receiving the cells.  Heart failure afflicts about 6.6 million Americans. (Read more)

Cardiologist: Kentucky needs better way to get heart attack patients to dedicated catheterization centers in time

Because cardiovascular disease kills more Kentuckians than anything else, and because what mostly kills them is a heart attack, and because if you can get help within 90 minutes of that heart attack your chances improve dramatically, this state needs a vastly improved way to get heart attack patients to the right hospital in a short amount of time. So explains Dr. William Dillon, an interventional cardiologist in Louisville, who writes an guest column in the In The Prime health blog of The Courier-Journal. He punctuates his point with a graph, right, that shows that Kentucky now ranks 49th of 50 states in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) deaths. AMI is doctor-speak for heart attacks. (American Heart Association graph)

Dillon's medically reasoned plea is for a more systematic regional network -- like one that have saved lives in North Carolina -- is "to transfer AMI patients to dedicated (heart catheterization lab) centers throughout the state." But Dillon also knows that many Kentuckians are not listening to their bodies as closely as they might. He writes that "another source of delay in AMI treatment is that, on average, patients wait more than 90 minutes before seeking medical attention. Furthermore, 50 percent of AMI patients drive to a hospital or clinic without calling EMS. Every year, a significant number of these patients needlessly die en route to the hospital." He adds then that health education -- in this case, early notification of needing EMS help -- is an important component in saving Kentuckians' lives. (Read more)

Study: Smoke-free workplace leads to fewer heart attacks

Mayo Clinic researchers have found a 33 percent drop in heart attack rates in a Minnesota county after public smoking bans were enacted. This, while rates of hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity remained the same or even increased after the ban was put in place, reports The New York Times. The conclusion: “I think the bottom line is this should turn the page on the chapter discussing whether or not secondhand smoke is a risk factor for heart attacks,” said Dr. Richard D. Hurt, an author of the study and a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted in Minnesota's Olmstead County where medical records were examined 18 months before the county's 2002 public ban went into effect and 18 months after it extended the ban to all workplaces in 2007. (Read more)

Women who smoke triple their risk of dying early, but quitting early enough might just wipe out that risk

A new study of more than a million women found that smokers have more than triple the risk of early death than nonsmokers, and that quitting can virtually eliminate the increased risk. Smoking is still the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The University of Oxford study, published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, included 1.3 million women between the ages of 50 and 65, making it one of the largest ever conducted on smoking. At the start of the study, in 1996, 20 percent of the women were smokers, 28 percent were former smokers and 52 percent had never smoked. "Each of the women was registered in the U.K.’s national health system, so their deaths and cause of death were recorded," explains Alexandra Sifferlin of Time magazine. "By 2011, 66,000 had passed away." Researchers found that even smokers who smoked as few as nine cigarettes a day had twice the mortality rate of nonsmokers.

"More encouraging, however," writes Sifferlin, "was the positive effect that quitting seemed to have on the women’s life span. Those who quit smoking before they reached 40 avoided more than 90 percent of the increased risk of premature death from cigarettes, while women who stopped even earlier -- before age 30 -- avoided 97 percent of the added risk." (Read more)

Study: Stroke victims getting younger and, yes, risk factors include obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol

A study conducted on first-ever stroke patients in the Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area may have some devastating repercussions for the nation. The results of the University of Cincinnati research, published this week in the online issue of Neurology, found that the average age of stroke victims has dropped and that this has great implications for lifetime disability. Study author Brett Kissela, MD, with the UC's College of Medicine explained that the rise in risk factors like diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol are the cause. Newswise reports that the study found that strokes among people under 55 made up a greater percentage of all strokes over time, growing from about 13 percent in 1993-94 to 19 percent in 2005. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"What [the study] means is that even though young people typically feel like they're healthy and that a stroke can't happen to them, the fact is that our study is evidence that that is not true," said Kissela.“The good news is that some of the possible contributing factors to these strokes can be modified with lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise. However, given the increase in stroke among those younger than 55, younger adults should see a doctor regularly to monitor their overall health and risk for stroke and heart disease.” (Read more)

4 Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy

You may apply various measures to increase your human growth hormone and stay youthful and energetic but some diseases like cardiac problems can only be evaded only if you are proactive in your younger years.

Soon after the celebration of 'American Heart Month' in February, the shocking news that heart diseases are largely responsible for human death has left the doctors in a state of shock! Thus, the Heart Lung and Blood Institute and American Heart Association emphasized on improving the lifestyle and eating habits to fight back this deadly disease. Here are some tips provided by the experts to keep your heart healthy:

1. Fitness: Fitness is essential for keeping the whole body healthy and especially keeps the stress level under strict control. Include walk, exercise or meditation for the strong ticking of the heart. Also having a routine lifestyle which includes a healthy and nutritional diet can also work wonders for your heart.
2. Chocolates: We all love chocolates and the good news is, so does our heart! Enriched with anti-oxidants and excellent property of controlling the blood pressure, chocolates are a boon for your heart and for taste buds too. According to British Medical Journal, chocolates are really effective in bringing down the rate of heart attacks as well as strokes. Statistics prove that almost there is a decrease in the chances of heart diseases by almost 37% if you consume chocolates everyday and roughly a decrease of 29% is recorded in the case of strokes. So, get the biggest chocolate bar today and enjoy it.
3. Laugh: Yes, you have heard it right. Laughter is really the best medicine, at least for heart problems. Negative thoughts, tension and stress all contract the blood vessels, which obstruct the blood flow. Whereas, laughing and other positive actions do the right opposite. The diameter of the blood vessels almost increases by 30% to 50%. When the blood vessels expand, it's easier for the heart to pass blood and thus reduces the pressure on it. It has been proved at the European Society of Cardiology's conference, that
4. Yoga: To bid adieu to the heart troubles yoga is a great exercise. It best to beat the troubles like problem of irregular heartbeats and abnormal heart rhythms and improves general functioning of the heart. This fact has been proved by American College of Cardiology's at the 60th Annual Scientific Session.

Therefore, to make your heart healthy you don't need to make a complete change in your lifestyle. If you follow these tips you can possible evade the chances of heart disease and stroked to a great deal.

Brenda Lyttle is a health expert and a freelance writer. In her free time, she loves exploring fashionable outfits. Recently, she came up with her own range of halloween costumes 2012 for couples.

By Brenda Lyttle

Uncompromised Benefits of Stem Cells

The stem cell saga seems to be popularized at this point in time - with testimonials from prominent people admitting on TV and online news portals that they've gone through the process for various reasons and quite satisfied with the results. Stem cells are actually from the body's master cells that are extracted and processed for their curing capabilities that are found to be effective even in treating several chronic diseases. These cells can be found in some adult cells particularly from embryos and amniotic fluid. Adult stem cells are more flexible to be processed to create similar type of embryonic cells.

Body tissues have rare substance cells but they normally generate new essential cells. The newly formed cells split into stem cells called self-renewed cells and specialized cells. Specialized cells are compatible with the cells in the brain, heart, blood and bone. They are capable of repairing damaged tissues and impaired body organs when infused. The following are tested procedures as publicized but some still need thorough research:

More than Just Weight Loss

CNN Health reported on September 04, 2009 that fats drawn from a person's belly by liposuction can be converted into pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells. These will be administered back into the body intravenously to cure the patient's diseases. Aside from making the body lean, injuries and internal damages will be repaired - making the patient more fit without technically going under the knife. The procedure may involve some intimidating needles but generally, the treatment is easy and bearable. It may take a week or two for the stem cells to be processed but other than that, the body's improvement can be felt almost immediately.

Cosmetic Advancement

Scientists discovered that stem cells from the patient's blood can repair the skin's elasticity to get rid of wrinkles. They will be injected underneath the patient's skin to bring back its natural stretch. The study has been concluded only very recently according to Dr. Rafael Sierra, one of the researchers of Mayo Clinic as reported by Startribune Health last August 13, 2012.

Organ Transplant Replacement

Stem cell is also referred to as regenerative medicine based on the continuing studies of Dr. Rafael Sierra's team. These essential cells are cultivated by researchers to replace one particular kind of damaged cells. These specialized cells can be used to cure heart, bone marrow, blood diseases and many other illnesses including Cancer in any part of the body. Series of stem cell injections will be administered to the patients. They must be infused directly to the damaged organ if that's where the problem is. If the patient has a heart disease, the formulated stem cells will be injected into the heart muscle to repair and renew the dysfunctional tissues of the heart. This treatment is quite similar to the principles of organ transplanting - but the good thing is, there is no need for organ replacement.

Total Cure for IBD

Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD is the swelling of the intestine that leads to ulcer. This disease has no cure yet until the emergence of stem cells. Pain reliever and anti-inflammatory medicines are mostly prescribed to temporarily ease the discomforts caused by IBD. Cord blood stem cells improve the deficiency in the intestine's blood vessels that causes the disease.

Stem cells are certainly the hope for severe ailments and no doubt an exciting breakthrough for ageless wellness if you have the money. Perhaps, as the medical findings progress, this will become more affordable for everyone. It is therefore important to spread the message that cord blood donations are very much welcome in most hospitals. This can be extracted from the placentas of newly-born babies. If you are pregnant, you now know how to help in developing this medical advancement. If you can't get your wife pregnant because of erectile dysfunction, you can resort to Tadalafil online at http://www.raipharmacies.com/.

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By Elena Flores

Report: Two-thirds of Kentuckians obese by 2030 if trends continue; cost to nation's future unquestionably high

Nearly two-thirds of adults in Kentucky will be obese by 2030 if rates continue to climb as they are now, an analysis reported Tuesday. The level of obesity, defined as being roughly 30 or more pounds overweight, is projected to reach 60.1 percent in Kentucky in 2030, up from 30.4 percent in 2011, according to an analysis commissioned by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nancy Hellmich and Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville report that if states’ obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020, and double again by 2030. Medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases could increase by up to $66 billion per year by 2030, and the loss in economic productivity could be as high as $580 billion annually. (Read more)

The joint report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index (BMI) of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030. Doing so would spare millions of Americans serious health problems, and the country could save billions of dollars in health spending. See the interactive map showing how much improvement could be made if that small change were made here.

The report also features a series of joint policy recommendations from TFAH and RWJF, including full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, protection of the federal health reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, and inclusion of additional physical education and activity components in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To download the full report, go here. 

Stop Taking Fish Oil Supplements Fish oil appears to offer no heart benefits

If this week's headlines have you thinking you can stop taking your fish oil supplements, keep reading. The headlines and news coverage of the study they were based on do not tell the whole story. But as I've said before, it is never a good idea to make a dietary change based on a single news report unless it's for a food recall, and here's why.

The research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association investigated whether people taking fish oil capsules had less risk of heart disease and death than those who did not. While the headlines said they did not, several factors limited the findings. The biggest one being that the subjects were not a healthy population, but people who had already suffered heart attacks and strokes. Since most people with a history of cardiovascular disease are taking multiple medications, it simply may not have been possible to tell what impact their fish oil supplements were having on lowering their risk factors.

Key Take-Away: This study provides no indication of how fish oil supplements benefit healthy people, but plenty of others do.

Why Take Fish Oil Capsules?
Fish oil capsules are a source of essential omega 3 fatty acids. An essential nutrient is required by the body, but cannot be manufactured by the body. That means we must get it from food or supplements.

What Types of Omega 3 Fatty Acids Do We Need?
There is not just one omega 3 fatty acid. The name omega 3 simply indicates that there is a double bond (between two carbon atoms) in a specific location on the fatty acid. For dietary purposes, we are most concerned with the types of omega 3s found in fatty fish, called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and the type found in plants called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

What Role Do Omega 3 Fatty Acids Play in the Body?
Omega 3 fatty acids play a role in several metabolic processes, including reducing inflammation, lowering high triglyceride (blood fat) levels, reducing the pain and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis, improving cognitive function with aging, aiding the treatment of depression, and enhanced brain development in infants. Research also shows omega 3 may reduce the risk of plaque build up in the arteries, inflammatory bowel disease, Attention Deficit Disorder, bone loss, and psychiatric disorders.

How Much Omega 3 Do We Need?
The Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Science establishes the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for essential nutrients for both the U.S. and Canada. The DRI are intended to satisfy the nutrient needs of most healthy people in each age group. The Acceptable Intake (AI) of omega 3 fatty acids for males and females aged 40-50 years is 1.6grams/day and 1.1 grams/day respectively.

How Much Omega 3 Do We Consume?
Eating 8 ounces a week of a variety of seafood supplies about 1.7 grams of EPA and DHA, which is enough to meet the DRI for adult men and women noted above. But the mean intake of all types of fish eaten by Americans is 3.5 ounces per week, less than half the amount needed to meet the Acceptable Intake. Plant sources of omega 3, such as seed oils, walnuts, and soybeans, supply 1.3-2.0 grams a day of ALA, but less than 5 percent of it is converted to DHA and EPA.

Do We Need Fish Oil Supplements?
All dietary supplements are meant to help fill in the gaps created when we don't eat all the foods we need in the amounts we need to meet our nutritional needs every day. Fish oil supplement are an excellent way to get essential omega 3 fatty acids if you are not eating 8 ounce/week of seafood, such as salmon, sardines and tuna.

BY: ROBYN FLIPSE

Cancer has become the leading cause of death among U.S. Latinos

Nosing past heart disease in 2009, researchers at the American Cancer Society reported Monday.

For most demographic groups and for the country as a whole heart disease is the top killer, claiming a total of 599,413 American lives in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That same year, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 567,628 Americans died of cancer.

Among Latinos that year, the rankings were reversed: 29,935 died of cancer and 29,611 of heart disease, according to a study in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

The change may be due to demographics, said Rebecca Siegel, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta and lead author of the study.

The average age of Latinos in the United States is 27 and of non-Hispanic whites is 42. In the overall population, cancer is the leading cause of death in people under 85 years of age.

"This is primarily driven by the young age distribution," Siegel said.

Cancer incidence and cancer deaths among Latinos remain lower than in non-Hispanic whites, and rates of both continue to fall due to improvements in lifestyle, early detection and treatment.

At the same time, advances in the treatment of heart disease have caused death rates to fall even faster, Siegel said.

"The overall message is positive," said Dr. Paulo Pinheiro, an epidemiologist at the University of Nevada who wasn't involved with the cancer society's report.

The American Cancer Society undertakes its analysis of cancer in Latinos every three years, compiling data from the National Cancer Institute, the CDC and other government sources.

Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic group in the U.S., the organization said, numbering 50.5 million in 2010 and making up 16.3% of the population.

Siegel and her colleagues estimated that 112,800 new cases of cancer would be diagnosed in Latinos in 2012, and that 33,200 Latinos would die this year from various forms of the disease.

They also examined incidence and mortality of the various cancer subtypes. Latinos are less likely than non-Hispanic white Americans to have the most common forms of cancer in the U.S.: breast, prostate, lung and colorectal.

But they are far more likely to develop forms of cancer that result from infection, including liver cancer (caused by the hepatitis B virus), stomach cancer (associated with the H. Pylori bacterium) and cervical cancer (caused by the human papilloma virus).

Incidence and death rates for cervical cancer, for example, are 50% to 70% higher among Latinas than among non-Hispanic white women, the report noted.

Siegel said the high rates of cervical cancer were a result of lower screening rates among Latinas.

"There's an opportunity there to reduce the risk," she said, adding that the cancer society wants to promote culturally appropriate interventions for Spanish-speaking people.

The longer Latinos are in the U.S., she said, the more they acculturate and the more their cancer risk should resemble that of non-Hispanic whites.

Pinheiro noted that U.S. residents from Mexico have lower cancer rates than people from Cuba or Puerto Rico, in part because they haven't been in the country as long.

He said he would like to see a cancer survey that compared like with like, matching Latinos who were born in the U.S. with their non-Hispanic white counterparts. However, birthplace data currently don't support such analysis.

By Eryn Brown

KET talks with experts on heart disease and health reform tonight

Some nationally recognized heart specialists will speak directly to Kentuckians about heart disease tonight on the season premiere of Health Three60 on KET. Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States -- and, perhaps surprisingly, in women -- will get a thorough examination. The show will take on the history of the disease, what women should know about the disease and what the future looks like for all of us. Host Renee Shaw will explore the history of cardiac surgery and the development of the artificial heart with Dr. Laman Gray, Jr. cardiovascular surgeon and medical director at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute. Gray will also discuss how the death rate from heart disease has decreased even as the increase has gone up.

Guests will also include Dr. Joey Maggard, executive director of the Central Kentucky Chapter of the American Heart Association; Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley, cardiologist with Cardiology Associates in Glasgow; Mark Rucker, recipient of the American Heart Association Lifestyle Change Award; Dr. Paula Hollingsworth, cardiologist at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington; and, James B. Hoving, Ph.D., division chief of cardiosvascula therapeutics at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute. Health Three60 airs at 9 p.m. EDT.

Immediately preceding Health Three60, on this week's edition of Kentucky Tonight, host Bill Goodman and guests will discuss health care and health care reform.  Scheduled guests include State Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee; State Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, vice chair of the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Human Resources; Dr. Ralph Alvarado, a Winchester internist and pediatrician; and Dr. Barbara Casper, an internist and University of Louisville professor of medicine. Kentucky Tonight airs at 8 EDT.

Spouses of heart attack survivors

Spouses of heart attack victims have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, even if their partner survives, Danish research suggests.

The study found that in the year after losing a spouse to a heart attack, partners were three times more likely to start taking anti-depressants.

Even if their partner survived, the use of anti-depressants still increased by 17%, compared with the year before.

The use of anxiety drugs also went up, the European Heart Journal reports.

There are about 340 heart attacks in the UK every day - approximately 13% are fatal.

Care needed
Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "A heart attack can impact the whole family, and this study emphasises the importance of caring for the partners of heart attack sufferers.

"We know that people can feel anxious or helpless when a loved one has a heart attack. It is essential they receive the emotional and practical support they need during this often traumatic time."

This is the first study to look at the health of spouses after their partner survives a heart attack.

It also found men were more susceptible to the effect than women.

Report author Dr Emil Fosbol, from Duke University Medical Center, said: "This is a major public health issue for which there seems to be very little awareness among doctors and policy makers.

"The most important finding of this study is that the system needs to consider the care needs for the spouses too, not only when a patient dies from a [sudden heart attack], but also when the patient is 'just admitted' to hospital [after a sudden heart attack] and survives."

Using Danish registries, including the National Civil Status Registry that shows whether people are married or not, researchers studied 16,506 spouses of people who died from a sudden heart attack between 1997 and 2008 and 44,566 spouses of patients who survived a sudden heart attack.

Extreme health impact
They also looked at the use of anti-depressants and drugs to treat anxiety before and up to a year after the event, and medical records for depression and suicide.

The scientists also compared this data with the health of 49,518 people whose partners died from causes unrelated to a sudden heart attack, and 131, 563 spouses of people admitted to hospital for a non-fatal condition unrelated to a sudden heart attack.

If the partner had a heart attack, the spouse's health was more seriously affected than those whose partners died from or survived other medical conditions.

The researchers speculate that it is the sudden and unexpected nature of a sudden heart attack that causes the more extreme impact on the spouse.

Dr Fosbol said: "If your partner dies suddenly from a heart attack, you have no time to prepare psychologically for the death, whereas if someone is ill with, for example, cancer, there is more time to grow used to the idea.

"The larger psychological impact of a sudden loss is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder."

By Anna-Marie Lever, BBC News

Eating more Fruits and Vegetables

It's almost June, which means you have a little more than six months to finally complete that New Year's weight loss resolution. Now a study offers two simple changes that may help you reach your goal: Stop sitting in front of the television and start eating more fruits and vegetables.

While these health tips might seem obvious, it's their long-term sustainability that has scientists praising their virtues. According to the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine study published in the May 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, by making these adjustments you'll be more likely to maintain these habits to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Sedentary lifestyle tied to diabetes, heart disease, premature death: Is TV to blame?
Sitting too much may double your risk of dying, study shows

"Just making two lifestyle changes has a big overall effect and people don't get overwhelmed," Dr. Bonnie Spring, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a press release. "Americans have all these unhealthy behaviors that put them at high risk for heart disease and cancer, but it is hard for them and their doctors to know where to begin to change those unhealthy habits," Spring said. "This approach simplifies it."

In the study, 204 adult patients between the ages of 21 to 60 with elevated saturated fat and low fruit and vegetable intake, high sedentary leisure time and low physical activity were placed in one of four treatment categories. One group had to increase fruit and vegetable intake, another had to decrease fat and sedentary leisure, yet another decrease fat and increase physical activity (otherwise known as traditional dieting) and the last group had to increase fruit/vegetable intake and decrease sedentary leisure. Patients had to record their daily results for three weeks and were coached remotely through mobile technology. If the patients met their goals and displayed healthy lifestyle changes, they would receive $175.

On average, daily fruit and vegetable intake increased from 1.2 servings to 5.5 servings, sedentary leisure time decreased from 219.2 minutes per day to 89.3 minutes, and daily saturated fat decreased from 12.0 percent to 9.5 percent of calories consumed. The group that participated in traditional dieting reported fewer improvements than the other groups.

Then, the participants were given the option of continuing to report their lifestyle. They did not have to keep up with the dietary or exercise recommendations and would receive monthly payments just for turning in their data three times each month for six months.

Ninety-eight percent of the test subjects opted to continue with the second 20-week phase of the study. Out of the 185 people who continued on, 86.5 percent said they tried to "definitely" or "somewhat" maintain what they did in the three-week treatment period even without the financial or mobile encouragement.

What's even more surprising is they seemed to maintain the healthy habits of eating more fruits and vegetables and decreasing sedentary activity without receiving any financial incentive to do so. Though the patients did not increase their healthy behaviors in the six month follow-up, they made "substantial" improvements in watching less television and eating more vegetables compared with their rates when the study started. It is worth noting, however, that those who traditionally dieted for the most part did not carry healthy habits through the second part of the experiment, especially when it came to increasing physical activity.

"We said we hope you'll continue to keep up these healthy changes, but you no longer have to keep them up to be compensated," Spring said. "We thought they'd do it while we were paying them, but the minute we stopped they'd go back to their bad habits," she said. "But they continued to maintain a large improvement in their health behaviors."

The results suggest that even a short period of encouraging healthy lifestyles through coaching and incentives may have a lasting effect. Considering that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults - 35.7 percent - are obese, and obesity has been linked to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, taking these simple steps could make a big difference.

By: Michelle Castillo