Adopting a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet to lose weight and improve health may not be as onerous as is typically assumed, as people can experience health benefits even if they only partially switch to plant-based foods. In addition, the diets may cost less than other healthy diets, suggests new research presented here at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2018.
Access the full article here.
The comments are the best part of this article.
CONCLUSIONS Findings indicate that LB women develop type 2 diabetes at younger ages than heterosexual women. Higher BMI in LB women is an important contributor to this disparity. Public health and clinical efforts to prevent, detect, and manage obesity and type 2 diabetes among LB women are warranted.
Source article here.
We present some top-line findings from these studies below. When reading these summaries, it is important to bear in mind that while the abstracts presented at Nutrition 2018 were evaluated and selected by a committee of experts, the papers have not undergone the same rigorous standard of peer review that is applied to scientific journals.
So, we should consider these findings as “preliminary results,” until they are properly assessed.
Read the abstracts at this link.
A new study has found that a common e-cigarette flavoring that has chemical characteristics similar to toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke disrupts an important mechanism of the lungs’ antibacterial defense system.
Read the geeky stuff here.
The 16-week randomized controlled trial in 73 adults showed that participants who ate a diet of vegetables, grains, legumes, and fruits significantly improved their overall metabolic condition, say Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC, and colleagues.
Previous studies have shown that the prevalence of diabetes is 46% to 74% lower in people who eat a plant-based diet compared with meat lovers in the general population, according to background information in the article.
A vegan diet has also been shown to improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes better than calorie-restricted, low-carbohydrate diets, the researchers note.
You can access the Medscape article here.
This is a link to the online abstract.
Reminder — Beer, wine and whiskey are vegan!
In a five-year study of nearly 11,000 people, those with obstructive sleep apnea had a higher risk of sudden cardiac death. At greatest risk were those aged 60 and older with moderate to severe apnea (20 episodes an hour).
When their oxygen saturation levels dipped below 78 percent — preventing air from flowing into the lungs — their risk increased by 80 percent.
Memo to Underwriters:
In case anyone asks why we are so harsh on untreated OSA quote this study.
Article link here.
Link to the study abstract here.
RESULTS:
During an average follow-up of 5.3 years, 142 patients had resuscitated or fatal SCD (annual rate 0.27%). In multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for SCD were age, hypertension, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy or heart failure, ventricular ectopy or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, and lowest nocturnal O2sat (per 10% decrease, hazard ratio [HR]: 1.14; p = 0.029). SCD was best predicted by age >60 years (HR: 5.53), apnea-hypopnea index >20 (HR: 1.60), mean nocturnal O2sat <93% (HR: 2.93), and lowest nocturnal O2sat <78% (HR: 2.60; all p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS:
In a population of 10,701 adults referred for polysomnography, OSA predicted incident SCD, and the magnitude of risk was predicted by multiple parameters characterizing OSA severity. Nocturnal hypoxemia, an important pathophysiological feature of OSA, strongly predicted SCD independently of well-established risk factors. These findings implicate OSA, a prevalent condition, as a novel risk factor for SCD.
Today, Washingtonians purchase more alcohol on a per capita basis than any state except New Hampshire, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nearly a quarter of District residents are binge drinkers, defined as consuming more than five drinks in an evening; that is the second-highest rate in the nation, behind North Dakota. And Washington bears higher economic costs of problem drinking than any other state, according to the CDC calculations.
A part of the higher rates comes from the high-stakes nature of government jobs, and from professions with a large presence in Washington, said Aaron White, the senior scientific adviser to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Lawyers, plentiful in Washington, tend to drink more than those in other professions.
“We know that high-powered jobs, high income, that is a risk factor for excessive drinking,” White said. “You have a lot of people in powerful, high-paying jobs downtown. People with money and stressful jobs tend to drink more.”
Read the entire article here.
Anyone surprised?
The researchers point out that better education leads to improved cognition and in turn to better choices for health-related behaviours. Recent decades have seen a shift in the disease burden from infectious to chronic diseases, the latter of which are largely lifestyle-related. As time goes on, the link between education and better health choices, and therefore life expectancy, will become even more apparent.
Read the source article here.
Download the original study at this link.
I should have gone to graduate school.
Age-standardized prevalence of obesity among adults increased from 33.7% (95% CI, 31.5%-36.1%) in 2007-2008 to 39.6% (95% CI, 36.1%-43.1%) in 2015-2016 (P?=?.001) (Table 2). Prevalence increased among women, and in adults aged 40 to 59 years and 60 years or older. The observed increases in men and adults aged 20 to 39 years did not reach statistical significance. There were no significant quadratic trends. The adjusted model also showed a significant overall linear trend for obesity among adults (P?<?.001; data not shown).
Age-standardized prevalence of severe obesity in adults increased from 5.7% (95% CI, 4.9%-6.7%) in 2007-2008 to 7.7% (95% CI, 6.6%-8.9%) in 2015-2016 (P?=?.001). Prevalence increased in men, women, adults aged 20 to 39 years and 40 to 59 years. There was no significant linear trend among adults 60 years and older. There were no significant quadratic trends. The adjusted model also showed a significant overall linear trend for severe obesity (P?<?.001; data not shown).
- Severe autoimmune diabetes (formerly type 1 diabetes): affected 6% of patients in the derivation cohort; characteristics include early-onset disease, relatively low BMI, and GADA-positive
- Severe insulin-deficient diabetes: 18% of patients; GADA-negative but similar to cluster 1; lowest HOMA2-B scores
- Severe insulin-resistant diabetes: 15%; higher HOMA2-IR scores
- Mild obesity-related diabetes: 22%; obese, but not insulin resistant
- Mild age-related diabetes: 39%; older than other clusters, but largely similar to cluster 4
Quoted from NEJM Journal Watch.
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