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Tizer
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5150 Posts
Posted -  14/01/2008  :  12:42
Danish researchers claim to have confirmed that people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don’t drink at all.

7 January 2008
Staying active and drinking moderately is the key to a long life

People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don't drink at all, according to new research. People who neither drink alcohol nor exercise have a 30-49 per cent higher risk of heart disease than those who either drink, exercise or both.

The research, which was published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Wednesday 9 January), is the first to look at the combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on the risk of fatal ischaemic heart disease (a form of heart disease characterised by a reduced blood supply to the heart) and deaths from all causes.

Between 1981-1983 Danish researchers obtained information on various health-related issues (including exercise and alcohol intake) from 11,914 Danish men and women aged 20 or older, who were taking part in the larger, Copenhagen City Heart Study.

During approximately 20 years of follow-up there were 1,242 cases of fatal ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and 5,901 deaths from all causes among the study participants.

Professor Morten Grønbæk, Director of Research of the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen, and Professor Berit Heitmann, Director for Research of the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University Hospitals, supervised the research. Prof Grønbæk said: "Our study shows that being both physically active and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is important for lowering the risk of both fatal IHD and death from all causes. For both men and women, being physically active was associated with a significantly lower risk for both fatal IHD and all-cause mortality than being physically inactive; and drinking alcohol was associated with a lower risk of fatal IHD than abstaining. A weekly moderate alcohol intake reduced the risk of all-cause mortality among both men and women, whereas the risk among heavy drinkers was similar to non-drinkers."

The lead author of the study, Jane Østergaard Pedersen, a research assistant at the National Institute of Public Health, said: "An important finding from our research for people who have reasons for alcohol abstention such as religious beliefs, previous alcoholism or pregnancy, is that physical activity can reverse some of the adverse health effects associated with alcohol abstention. People who did not drink but whose physical activity was moderate or high, had a lower risk of IHD than the inactive non-drinkers."

Physical activity was divided into three categories:

1.physically inactive (less than two hours of light physical activity a week such as reading, watching television, going to the cinema);
2.low level of activity - light physical activity for two to four hours a week (walking, cycling, light gardening, light physical exercise);
3.moderate to high level of physical activity - light physical activity for more than four hours a week or more vigorous activity for two to four hours a week (brisk walking, fast cycling, heavy gardening, sports that cause perspiration or exhaustion), or vigorous physical activity for more than four hours a week, regular heavy exercise, or competitive sports several times a week.

Alcohol intake was classified according to people's reported total weekly intake, with one drink corresponding to one bottle of beer, one glass of wine and one unit of spirits. Non-drinkers consumed less than one drink a week, moderate drinkers had between 1-14 drinks a week, and heavy drinkers drank 15 or more a week.

Within each level of physical activity, non-drinkers had a 30-31 per cent higher risk of IHD compared to moderate drinkers. However, non-drinkers who had a moderate or high level of physical activity had a reduced risk of IHD of 31 and 33 per cent respectively compared to physically inactive non-drinkers. People who drank at least one drink a week and were physically active had a 44-50 per cent lower risk of IHD compared to physically inactive non-drinkers.

When looking at deaths from all causes (including IHD) the researchers found that within each category of weekly alcohol intake, the physically inactive had the highest risk of death and within each level of physical activity the moderate drinkers had the lowest risk of death from all causes. Compared with physically inactive non-drinkers, being physically active was associated with a 23 per lower risk of deaths from all causes, and being physically active and drinking at least one drink a week was associated with 12-33 per cent lower risk of death.

Ms Østergaard Pedersen said: "The lowest risk of death from all causes was observed among the physically active moderate drinkers and the highest risk among the physically inactive non- and heavy drinkers."

She concluded: "Neither physical activity alone nor alcohol intake can completely reverse the increased risk associated with alcohol abstention and lack of physical activity. Thus, both moderate to high levels of physical activity and a moderate alcohol intake are important for lowering the risk of fatal IHD and deaths from all causes."

Notes:
[1] The combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on fatal ischaemic heart disease and all-cause mortality. European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm574

 

 

 


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Tizer
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5150 Posts
Posted - 14/01/2008 : 12:47
(7 January 2008 press release from journal publisher)

Four health behaviours can add fourteen extra years of life

People who adopt four healthy behaviours - not smoking; taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day - live on average an additional fourteen years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behaviours, according to a study published in the open access journal "PLoS Medicine".

Rather than focusing on how an individual factor is related to health, the study calculates the combined impact of these four simply-defined forms of behaviour. The results suggest that several small changes in lifestyle could have a marked impact on the health of populations.

There is overwhelming evidence showing that lifestyles such as smoking, diet and physical activity influence health and longevity but there is little information about their combined impact. Furthermore the huge amount of information provided by these studies and the varying definitions of a health behaviour that these studies use can often make them confusing for public health professionals and for the general public. For example: small amounts of alcohol appear to be related to lower risk of cardiovascular disease health but what is the overall impact on longevity ?

In order to examine the combined impact of changes in lifestyle, Kay-Tee Khaw and colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council used a health behaviour score that is easy to understand in order to assess the participants in the study (who were from Norfolk, United Kingdom). Between 1993 and 1997, 20,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 79, none of whom had known cancer or heart or circulatory disease, completed a questionnaire that resulted in a score between 0 and 4. A point was awarded for each of the following: not currently smoking; not being physically inactive (physical inactivity was defined as having a sedentary job and not doing any recreational exercise); a moderate alcohol intake of 1-14 units a week (a unit is half a pint of beer or a glass of wine); and a blood vitamin C level consistent with eating five servings of fruit or vegetables a day. Deaths among the participants were recorded until 2006.

After factoring in age, the results showed that over an average period of eleven years people with a score of 0 - i.e. those who did not undertake any of these healthy forms of behaviour - were four times more likely to have died than those who had scored 4 in the questionnaire. Furthermore, the researchers calculate that a person who has a health score of 0 has the same risk of dying as someone 14 years older who had scored 4 in the questionnaire (i.e. someone engaging in all four healthy forms of behaviour). This was independent of social class and body mass index. The study forms part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), conducted across ten European countries, the largest study of diet and health ever undertaken.

As a related editorial discusses, individuals in isolation often cannot make the lifestyle changes they want and a set of complex processes affect how research is translated into effective public health policy.

The results of this study need to be confirmed in other populations and an analysis of how the combined health behaviours affect quality of life is also needed. Nevertheless the results of the study strongly suggest that these four achievable lifestyle changes could have a marked improvement on the health of middle-aged and older people, which is particularly important given the ageing population in the UK and other European countries.


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Julie in Norfolk
Senior Member


1632 Posts
Posted - 14/01/2008 : 19:32
If you will excuse the pun, there's certainly food for thought in those articles. Speaking as a (now) non-smoking dog walker who has just taken up a healthy eating regime and had just given up guinness, I may have an occasional half every now and again. Shame that because occasional halves don't suit me really. Only the landlord's bell curtails my excesses - hence we don't go out until late.


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 14/01/2008 : 23:18
I guess all I need is a pair of trainers and bowl of fruit and I'm there!


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roopakvaidya
Regular Member


233 Posts
Posted - 15/01/2008 : 01:58
Not if you're going to pig out on Dhansak!
Cheers


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 15/01/2008 : 11:21
No pigging out at all..and quite a lot less oil than traditionally used! There are worse things than Dhansak!

Like the Baileys i had after it! oh no wait a minute alcohol is ok....it's just a walk i need!

Edited by - belle on 15/01/2008 11:22:53 AM


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 22/01/2008 : 11:19
Scientists uncover new potential treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
University College, Dublin, press release (14 January 2008)Irish scientists have discovered a new potential therapeutic approach to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a chronic debilitating disease involving inflammation of the intestine which affects more than 15,000 people in Ireland and millions of people worldwide.

People suffering from IBD can experience an array of symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to debilitating disease requiring surgical removal of large parts of the intestine. Current therapeutic options in IBD are very limited and surgery is often the only option.

In the new discovery published in the scientific journal Gastroenterology, the Irish scientists have demonstrated that they can almost completely reverse the symptoms of IBD in a disease model using a new class of drugs known as hydroxylase inhibitors.

"Under normal conditions our gastro-intestinal tract is lined with cells that block the contents of the gut from leaking into the intestine," explains Professor Cormac Taylor from the UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin, one of the principal scientists involved in the discovery. "However, when a person is suffering from IBD this barrier is broken and the contents of the gut leak out into surrounding areas."

"When we applied the new drugs, the gut was tricked into thinking that it was being deprived of oxygen and this activated protective pathways which in turn prevented the death of the cells that line the gastrointestinal tract," continues Professor Taylor.

While completing their investigation, the Irish researchers became aware of a similar study taking place at the University of Colorado, Denver. This study appears as an accompanying article in the same issue of Gastroenterology. The US study, while using a different hydroxylase inhibitor, supports the Irish scientist's research findings.

The Irish and US research groups will now begin a collaborative investigation to bring the discovery to the next stage which involves developing a new therapeutic which can be delivered safely to humans.

"By working in collaboration with Sigmoid Biotechnologies, a Dublin based drug delivery company, we intend to focus on developing methods to safely deliver these drugs to their intended target in the inflamed gut," says Professor Taylor.

"These findings show that cross-university partnerships adopted by the new generation of Science Foundation Ireland funded Irish scientists will help to drive Ireland's future knowledge economy," says Professor Padraic Fallon, SFI Stokes Professor, TCD School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, the other principal research scientist involved in the Irish discovery.

"If Ireland is to compete at the forefront of scientific discoveries and to develop partnerships with the international biotechnology sector, our scientist must work together in synergy," continues Professor Fallon.

The Irish research groups led by Professor Taylor at University College Dublin and Dr Fallon at Trinity College Dublin have recently received independent investigator awards from Science Foundation Ireland totalling over €1 million each.


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 22/01/2008 : 11:44
Very interesting, have some of these type pf probs myself, i am thinking of cutting milk products and wheat out of my diet ..... whilst  I am waiting for them to perfect the cure, that is!


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 22/01/2008 : 16:03
Belle, don't start dropping healthy foods out of your diet unless you have really bad problems with your gut. You could do more damage than it's worth - missing out on various viatmins and other positive things, for instance. I have gut problems (inflammation) that prevent me eating anything with spices or strong herbs and I have trouble with tomatoes. I also have to avoid excessive amounts of fat and fibre.

But I keep on eating dairy products because they are so healthy, and I continue with wheat because bread is so important in my diet. I just have to be careful and resort to Gaviscon when things go wrong! The biggest problem is eating out, or eating ready-made meals. Almost everything you get these days has spices in it, whether you buy it here or abroad. There are spices in food products that you would never have expected to have them!


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belle
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6502 Posts
Posted - 22/01/2008 : 16:11
Why is wheat so important in your diet?..most wheat today has been so changed in order to maximise yield it contains far fewer nutrients and is very difficult for your gut to digest. It's the same with cows milk....we are the only 'animal' to consume milk as an adult. As a baby you have enzyms in your body to help you digest lactose but that diminishes as you get older... i am not the only 50 something who has begun to develop lactose intolerance. The symptoms of both these intolerances are bloating wind and irregular bowel habits....it would do me no harm to cut both out.  I once read a book about the harm that sugar does to the human body, and several people claimed to have rid themselves of diabetes by going on a brown rice diet...ie a diet that was mainly whole rice with fresh veg and protein added.


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 22/01/2008 : 20:09
I was talking personally about wheat, Belle - I didn't mean to imply it had to be important in everyone's diet. I eat bread at breakfast and lunch and don't like the alternatives. Wheat has been bred to give higher yield and to resist pests but there's no reason for it to be more difficult to digest than it was in the past.

I don't believe in much of what's said about milk being bad for us - except of course where someone has a real allergy to milk protein. Just because we are the only 'animal' to consume milk as an adult doesn't mean it does any harm. Humans have consumed it for thousands of years and it has substances in it that help prevent cancer. Some races of humans tolerate lactose and some don't. Those who are lactose intolerant trdaitionally fermented milk to yoghurt so they still got the beneficial components in their diet. Of course if you become lactose intolerant then you have no choice but to give up milk itself.


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2008 : 06:12
The more 'health advice' I read, the more I am convinced that anyone born before 1960 is one of the last healthy generation.  Call me an old cynic but I have made it my business to read as much as possible about nutrition and it's no coincidence that the slide downhill started with modern pesticides, the rise of the 'food processers' and supermarkets extracting the maximum profit from foods modified for longer shelf life.  Most people have forgotten what proper food is and how to cook it.  They even put a sell-by date on Worcester Sauce which is like wine, it just gets better and better with age. 


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2008 : 09:33
I am not an expert on food, but like Stanley I do read about nutrition. Whereas it's true that humans have been consuming milk for thousands of years, it's also true that this has historically been a fresh product, from free range animlas, not all cows by any means , and consumed in smaller quantities than today. I am not saying any more than I said...the human bodie's ability to tolerate lactose wears a bit thin as you get older, in some people.
As to bread, it depends what you mean by bread... there is the whole phytic acid debate for starters, whether wholemeal depletes the body of vitamins unless fermented, etc.
I will say this about today's food, most of what I buy from the supermarket these days, is as near to off as it is possible to be, and goes bad very quickly once home...when you think of things like apples, which my father used to keep singly wrapped in a box in the dark for months, and they were still useable, it makes you wonder how long this stuff has sat about before being sold to us. The fact that it is then displayed under bright lights which also warm it, mean there is far less mutritional value in what we eat today, compared to 50 years ago. No wonder people are over eating! They have to consume twice as much to get as many nutrients!


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2008 : 10:47
Belle, I like your comment about "No wonder people are over eating! They have to consume twice as much to get as many nutrients!"

As for milk, I consume it on breakfast cereal and in tea but that's all. I agree that it's not good to drink a lot of it. Everything in moderation, that's the key. Unfortunately, many people these days don't understand moderation!

A lot of the newer food preservation methods, like "modified atmosphere packaging", have been developed to suit the supermarkets. The trouble is that as more and more people buy food in supermarkets, then more of it will be preserved that way. But then we haven't so much choice now about where to buy our food because the supermarkets have driven out the small traders.


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2008 : 14:14
I'll agree with that...of course we could vote with our feet and make the supermarkets re think things..what super spaces to house lots of different local small traders!?


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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2008 : 18:13
Discovery of new cause of mental retardation simplifies search for treatments
Press release from the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) and the ‘Human Genome Laboratory' research group at the Catholic university of Leuven, Belgium (24 January 2008)2 to 3 children in 100 are born with a mental handicap. This can be caused by a genetic defect, but in 80% of the cases scientists do not know which genes are responsible. Now, VIB researchers connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in collaboration with an Australian research team, have discovered that, in a portion of these patients, the mental retardation is caused by a twofold production of two proteins (HSD17B10 and HUWE1). This is the first time that scientists have found that duplication of a protein leads to mental retardation. The discovery offers promising possibilities in the search for remedies, because it's easier to reduce an over-production of a protein than to repair a defective protein or to replace a missing protein.

Defects on the X-chromosome
Mental retardation occurs in 2 - 3% of our population. This can be attributed to external factors (such as a shortage of oxygen at birth) or to defects in the DNA. When the cause is genetic (hereditary), identifying the precise defect is crucial for the patient's medical support or for assessing the risk of having children. Scientists estimate that, in about 30% of the patients, a defect on the X-chromosome is the underlying cause. This is called X-linked mental retardation (XLMR). In over half of the XLMR patients, the gene responsible has not yet been identified.

2 proteins in the leading role
Guy Froyen and his colleagues in the Human Genome Laboratory (VIB - K.U. Leuven) teamed up with Jozef Gécz's research group (University of Adelaide, Australia) to look for new genes that might lie at the basis of XLMR. With the aid of a very specialized molecular technology (X-chromosome specific array CGH), they studied the genes of some 300 XLMR families. In 6 of the families, they discovered that a certain part of the X-chromosome had been duplicated. Because of this duplication, two proteins, HSD17B10 and HUWE1, were produced in too high a concentration. The researchers in Leuven also found small alterations in both proteins in other XLMR patients. Through this research, they are uncovering the important role that these proteins play in the development of the brain's memory center.

A new mechanism opens possibilities
The VIB scientists' research is showing for the first time that the duplication of a chromosome region - whereby proteins are produced in too high a concentration - can lead to mental retardation. This is totally new information in the current understanding of genetic causes of mental retardation without attendant symptoms. Scientists have thought that defects that stop production of a protein, or cause it to be produced in a defective way, could lie at the basis of this disorder. The new discovery that too much of a protein can also cause mental retardation has a major impact on the quest for new therapies or medicines. Indeed, it's easier to scale back an over-production of a protein than to repair a defective protein.

Consequences for detecting and treating XLMR
The research being conducted by Guy Froyen and his colleagues presents new possibilities for detecting and treating XLMR. Tests can now be designed with which scientists can look for duplication of, and defects in, HSD17B10 and HUWE1. Developing a new treatment for XLMR, however, will require further research. Scientists must first gain greater insight into the role these proteins play in the body, and more specifically, in the brain. Research models are now being set up for this effort.


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