Unfortunately, potency issues and lead contamination are becoming frequent travelling companions, evidenced by recent findings from ConsumerLab.com about St. John's wort and its latest report on ginseng, one of the more popular herbal supplements used by Americans.

Out of 11 supplements tested by ConsumerLab.com, five failed to make the grade. Two brands exceeded safe exposure limits for lead in California (0.5 micrograms per day), ranging from three to six times. In one product, researchers also found traces of quintozene, a pesticide used, among other things, to treat seeds used in growing field crops and vegetables.

Three more supplements contained lesser amounts of ginsenosides, the active compounds in ginseng, ranging from 60-75 percent, including two products containing only American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.).

All the more reason, you should be scrutinizing the supplements you take, not only for the impact they have on your bank account, but their quality, safety and purity. Before you consider another supplement, please take a moment to review CNCA's Nutritional Supplement Quality -- The Facts, then talk to your doctor before selecting one.

ConsumerLab.com August 16, 2010 Subscription Required

Health experts sent out the first warning flares nearly a year ago that various forms of bacteria were becoming resistant to old-school antibiotics, so you can't complain about this latest report in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (free report link) about the latest superbug -- the wide-spread infiltration of the NDM 1 gene that passes between various kinds of bacteria making them drug-resistant -- spreading from southern Asia to Europe catching you by surprise.

Or, maybe you can. According to Time.com's Wellness blog, news agencies reported panic about the study in some parts of the world. And, Sarah Boseley, award-winning health editor for the British newspaper the Guardian, predicted the death knell of antibiotics era the day after the study appeared.

Amid the gloom and doom, however, there are some positives to take away from this news. For one, our medical world just got a lot smaller. Considering how quickly this NDM 1 gene moved from Asia to Europe, more expert eyes will be watching, and that's a good thing.

What's more, there's an important role for laymen (that's you and me) to play in this fight to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and it's literally -- pun intended -- in our hands. Wash your hands before and after meals, going to the beach, playing with your pets and working out at the gym.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases August 11, 2010 Free Full Text Study/Registration Required

Time: Wellness August 16, 2010

Guardian.co.uk August 12, 2010

When the state of health in America has been discussed in this space, typically, it's been focused on "big picture" issues like the general decline in cancer rates. What I found particularly interesting and different about this recent Gallup study (a longitudinal sampling of 662 adults combining three independent surveys done in 2009), however, is how it puts a simple dollar value on a person's wellbeing (living a healthy lifestyle).

Researchers codified a patient's wellbeing based on five thriving "dimensions": Career, Community, Financial, Physical and Social. The more dimensions you have, the lower your risk of experiencing an increased disease burden. For example, thriving in all five dimensions lessened one's risk of new health burdens to 11 percent, while possessing none of them more than tripled their chances to 35.3 percent.

The same analogy applies, unfortunately, to individual health care costs too. The disease burden for the average patient thriving in no wellbeing dimensions paid nearly $7,400 annually, some 60 percent more than a person enjoying all five (about $3,000).

By the way, there is some good to be found in this report, especially if you're on the downside of these numbers but moving upward. The steepest bump in health savings/disease burden between dimensions is the nearly $1,700 difference between none (nearly $7,400) and one ($5,700).

Gallup Management Journal August 12, 2010

Unfortunately, health experts will likely be debating the safety of sunscreens long after the FDA finally gets around to doing it. Case in point: A very public disagreement between the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and a trio of scientists over the safety of retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A, and an additive used, not only in sunscreens, but in dairy products and other processed foods.

The dispute stems from a recent analysis published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (no abstract link available), dismissing an advisory in the EWG's 2010 Sunscreen Guide that highlighted safety concerns about retinyl palmitate as a carcinogenic substance triggering cancer in humans.

The EWG feels the ongoing research by the FDA and the National Toxicology Program on animals has suggested retinyl palmitate may be carcinogenic when skin is exposed to sunlight. This, coupled with the fact that various forms of vitamin A can be found in 41 percent of the sunscreens in America, prompted the EWG to recommend avoiding retinyl palmitate.

Conversely, the scientists involved in the Journal report argue that retinyl palmitate isn't an active ingredient in sunscreens, and works in concert with other antioxidants "to alleviate the risk of free radical formation seen in these in vitro experiments." And, they were very skeptical that the results of an NTP study involving hairless and albino mice that developed tumors more quickly when coated with retinyl palmitate couldn't be easily linked to humans.

Interestingly, there's one thing, upon which, both groups agree: Limiting heavy exposure (look for the shade) and wearing protective clothing (hats, sunglasses and long-sleeve shirts and pants) -- but not sunscreens -- should be your primary strategy for protecting your skin from the sun.

Consulting Room August 10, 2010

Medscape August 13, 2010 Free Registration Required

Environmental Working Group August 11, 2010

Environmental Working Group August 2010

The most recent cover story in the September 2010 issue of Consumer Reports, entitled The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements, generated a firestorm of comments and controversy all over the MSM and the Internets, albeit at the tail end of what's usually a very slow news month in the middle of the summer.

If you're one of the growing number of folks who have subscribed to our daily health blog over the past few months, however, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought you'd already heard about some of these very same problems before. Fact is, you probably have…

A few months ago in this space, we discussed Reader's Digest's "crash-course" on vitamin safety, 5 Vitamin Truths and Lies. Unlike the aforementioned piece that clocked in at just under 1,500 words, Consumers Digest devoted eight full pages to supplements, providing guidance on a variety of topics.

Even though the Consumers Digest article was very thorough and detailed, I'm not sure how much more you'd learn about supplements that you already have, if you've been following our blog, even for a little while. Arguably, if you've been doing your homework, you may already have a pretty good understanding about what it takes to choose the right supplement for your health.

But this may be your first time reading our 14-month old health blog, or, perhaps, you're just getting around to looking. No matter… We've done the work for you. What follows are six detailed questions you should be asking every time you consider taking a supplement:

1. Has the supplement you're considering ever failed a quality test by an independent source, like ConsumerLab.com?

2. Has the company producing the supplement ever been the target of a regulatory agency like the FDA or FTC?

3. Does the product label of the supplement you're considering include testing data that guarantees its authenticity, purity and potency?

More...

I wouldn't be surprised one little bit if you were shaking your head at the headline of today's blog post. Believe me, I was just as stunned reading the various headlines related to this much-discussed and joked-about British study that proposed handing out free statin drugs with fast food purchases in real time when it hit the news too.

After comparing a meta-analysis of seven trials and some 43,000 patients using statins to prevent coronary artery disease to the health risks associated with eating high-fat fast foods, British researchers concluded taking most any statin drug daily was more than enough to offset the extra fat associated with eating a 7-ounce hamburger with cheese and a small shake. It was this finding that prompted Dr. Darrel Francis and his colleagues at Imperial College London to recommend access to free statins -- swimming in plastic bins full of ketchup, mustard and other condiments -- as a "rational modern means to offset the cardiovascular risk" associated with eating high-fat foods.

No question, there was an uproar on both sides of the pond over this study. I can imagine Moms panicking all over the world at the thought of their young daughters being handed a statin drug in Little Mermaid wrappers. Or, perhaps, buying my grandson a Transformers 3-themed Happy Meal with a low dose of Crestor lodged conspicuously on the head of Optimus Prime. Neither one would be a pretty sight…

Rather than doing the easy thing -- reaching for a drug -- wouldn't it be a lot smarter, healthier and cheaper to consider incorporating realistic lifestyle changes like more exercise or better eating habits?

American Journal of Cardiology, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 587-592, August 15, 2010

Los Angeles Times: Booster Shots August 13, 2010

insciences.org August 12, 2010

Guardian.co.uk August 12, 2010

The news keeps getting better about the health benefits associated with consuming whole foods -- from walnuts to apples -- with this latest discovery by Chinese scientists that a compound found in chili peppers lowered the blood pressure of hypertensive rats.

Capsaicin, the active ingredient that makes chili peppers HOT, was responsible for activating the TRPV1 protein in the lining of blood vessels spurs the natural production of nitric oxide that protects vessels from inflammation.

This isn't the only time scientists have studied the effect of capsaicin on blood pressure (results have varied based on short-term use), but a first look at the benefits of long-term treatment. Researchers suspected a link based on lower rates of hypertension in Chinese regions where eating hot foods like chili peppers was more prevalent. Because these results were based on rats, however, we'll be waiting for awhile until scientists figure out how much capsaicin humans must consume to reduce their blood pressure.

And, for folks who can't eat spicy foods, you're in luck too: A few studies have identified a milder pepper containing capsinoids, structurally similar substances to capsaicin with a tiny hot taste threshold, that may produce a similar effect.

Cell Metabolism, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 109-110, August 4, 2010 Free Full Text Study

ScienceDaily August 3, 2010

We've discussed many of the health problems associated with obesity so often in this space, you may be thinking, "I'm not obese… I've got a 'little' belly on me, but I workout. I'm good." Not so fast…

You may not be overweight or obese by some measures, but the more abdominal fat you have hugging your waist -- especially at middle age -- the greater your chances are of dying from any cause, according to researchers with the American Cancer Society who tracked the health of more than 100,000 men and women from 1997-2006 based on the association between waist circumference and mortality rates.

Patients with waist sizes exceeding 46 and 41 inches in men and women, respectively, nearly doubled their chances of dying, despite their BMI and weight. Even worse, this link between belly fat and higher mortality rates was strongest among women who maintained a normal weight. And, 4 extra inches of belly fat increased a patient's chances of death by 10 percent.

Just a reminder, obesity contributes greatly to various forms of cancer, but you can do a great deal to protect your health and that of your family in the gym and at the dinner table.

Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 170, No. 15, pp. 1293-1301, August 9/23, 2010

Yahoo News August 10, 2010

ScienceDaily August 9, 2010

Just as it's harmful for women who take a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) like fluouxetene (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil) or a cardiac or antipsychotic drug along with the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, the results of a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test may be altered by the use of common drugs, like statins, thiazide diuretics and non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

The effect of 10 drugs in these three categories had on lowering serum PSA levels among more than 1,850 men (age 40 and older) with no history of prostate cancer was slight but noticeable after one year, with a high of 6 percent for thaizide diuretics (drugs used to treat edema and hypertension). Real change came at the five-year mark, however, when the use of any one kind of drug artificially and exponentially lowered PSA levels anywhere from four to six times below normal. For example, the use of thaizide diuretics reduced PSA levels by a surprising 26 percent.

The drop in PSA levels was even more pronounced after five years among men who took a diuretic along with a statin drug by 36 percent, although using a calcium channel blocker to treat high blood pressure inhibited that effect. And, because many older patients use at least one, if not more, of these medications at the same time, researchers estimate their effect on artificially lowering PSA levels among far greater numbers of men could be huge.

But there's one more tantalizing possibility scientists are considering: This trio of drug classes may create a protective effect against cancer, not at all a pipe dream, considering statin drugs and NSAIDs are already being studied for that reason.

Journal of Clinical Oncology August 2, 2010

Drugwatch.com August 9, 2010

healthfinder.gov August 6, 2010

The scientific world is getting a bit wiser about the effect emotions can have on your health for better and for worse. How you handle your emotions may also affect the way your body manages the healing process too.

Scientists monitored the progression of healing of 93 patients with diabetic foot ulcers (neuropathic or neuroischaemic) four times during a 24-week span, taking into account their coping skills, cortisol levels and the psychological stress they felt.

Patients with a controlling personality -- My-way-or-the-highway, who-cares-if-you're-right folks -- were the least likely to heal from their foot ulcers. Because this disease requires long-term patience and treatment to recover, researchers believe those who seek to control and speed up the process also experience additional frustration and distress that work against healing.

Depression also contributes to the problem, as patients fighting their emotions demonstrated less healing and overall improvement by the end of the study, one more reason to seek out safer, gentler ways, like meditation, to calm your mind and body.

Diabetologia, Vol. 53, No. 8, pp. 1590-1598, August 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek August 6, 2010

Obesity may not only increase the odds a woman will be fighting cancer at some point in her lifetime. Those excess pounds may worsen her memory too, particularly if she is older. In fact, the memory drain is worse among women who have pear-shaped bodies (carrying extra pounds on the hips) than those with apple-shaped bodies (carrying more weight around the waist).

Researchers at Northwestern University discovered these anomalies while reviewing health data on 8,745 post-menopausal women (ages 65-79) culled from the Women's Health Initiative

Based on a 100-point memory test -- the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination -- that takes conditions like stroke, heart disease and diabetes into account, a one-point increase in a woman's BMI was directly connected to a similar numerical drop in her memory score.

Experts may not know which kind of fat is more harmful on a human body, but they do believe the kind deposited around the hips may explain why pear-shaped women had more memory problems and brain function deterioration. Excess fat may also contribute to the creation of plaque connected with hindering blood flow to the brain or Alzheimer's disease, scientists say.

All the more reason for you to review our recent feature about the many ways you can protect your brain, with many varieties of memory food.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society July 14, 2010

BBC News July 14, 2010

ScienceDaily July 15, 2010

Whole Foods Market's announcement about taking their first steps toward limiting genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) from their stores in America sounds far more hopeless and unrealistic today than it did a year ago, based on a report from a group of ecologists at the recent 95th meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) in Pittsburgh.

The gist: Despite assurances from the Agri-Business sector, scientists discovered GM yellow canola plants "growing in the middle of nowhere" North Dakota, in places far away from conventional and GM crops, that are resistant to herbicides made by Monsanto (glyphosate) and Bayer Crop Science (gluphosinate) and, in two cases, to both substances.

GM samples of the canola/rapeseed plant (Brassica napus) were found at almost half of the 288 sites scientists investigated along North Dakota roads. Of the roughly 140 sites and 406 plants collected in the state, 347 were genetically modified to resist either pesticide. And, two plant samples showed signs of stacked traits, meaning resistance to both pesticides.

Here's a sobering thought from a University of Arkansas scientist about the evolving genetic makeup of native plants, as told to Scientific American: This is a good model for the influence of agriculture on the evolution of native plants. We can imagine gene flow to native species. If we can imagine that happening, it probably happens.

Evidence for the establishment and persistence of genetically modified canola populations in the U.S (95th ESA Annual Meeting Abstract) August 6, 2010

Discover/80 Beats Blog August 6, 2010

Scientific American.com August 6, 2010

Nature News.com August 6, 2010

At the same time cancer rates keep dropping in America, medical experts are beginning to realize what they don't know about this second leading killer of Americans. But they're beginning to catch up, as evidenced by a recent joint report by a group of health agencies, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer and American Cancer Society, identifying 20 "new" causes of cancer, including one you wouldn't expect.

Some of these culprits should be very familiar to you -- formaldehyde, lead, chloroform and PCBs. Then, there's relative newbies, like atrazine and indium phosphide, a binary semiconductor made of indium and phosphorus used in the production of flat-screen TVs.

Probably, the most interesting cancer concern comes straight out of left field, isn't a chemical or substance at all, and it's not the RF energy emitted by mobile phones either.

Think shift work, changing 24/7 schedules that often plays havoc with a patient's circadian rhythms, often leaving them sleep-deprived and vulnerable to a slew of health problems.

International Agency for Research on Cancer Technical Publication No. 42 Free Full Text PDF

Environmental Health Perspectives July 13, 2010 Free PDF Supplement

ScienceDaily July 15, 2010

Chicago Tribune July 15, 2010

Recently, I admitted all this lifestyle changes stuff I'd been writing about for a long time in this space finally got to me. I couldn't ignore all the extra pounds on my body weighing me down or my desire to "get old" with my wife of 20 years, my kids, my grandkids and all the family (and extended family) I'd accumulated over a half-century of living a second longer. I don't use the bad genes "defense" to deflect the responsibility, or the "I'm too busy to eat properly excuse" any more.

These changes have been easier for me to make thanks to a renewed commitment to exercise. In my case, it's nearly 40-minute sessions of brisk walking on a treadmill at least twice a week. Granted, this is a small commitment and not enough for many purists, but this makes sense for me based on my personal and professional responsibilities and I feel A LOT BETTER for doing it too.

If you're looking for excuses not to exercise, however, you can find them just as easily. Take, for instance, this recent New York Times piece detailing a position paper from the National Athletic Trainers' Association about that counsels athletes on various skin diseases and how to avoid them. Or, the side-story about a wrestler who developed a staph infection after being exposed to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.

The aforementioned athlete says he did all the right things that would've prevented any exposure to MRSA, but it happened anyway. And, there are other lesser but annoying problems you'll face at the gym -- think athlete's foot or jock itch -- if you're not careful.

Fortunately, you can sidestep most of these nasties hiding out at the gym by taking some common-sense precautions, like those listed in a recent blog post from Outside magazine. In fact, I had already been following many of these simple suggestions before reading it.

Journal of Athletic Training, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 411-428, July/August 2010 Free Full Text Report

New York Times August 2, 2010

Science is only beginning to appreciate the effect better nutrition has on human health, as we've seen an increasing number of studies, for example, tying diet to improved emotional wellbeing and lower cholesterol and, even, slowing the growth of prostate cancer.

The latest in this series of studies linking diet to disease heralds from Australia, as eating a Western diet -- chock full of junk foods, processed meat, candy, red meat and high-fat dairy products -- more than doubled the risk that teenagers would be diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as compared to young patients consuming a healthy diet high in vegetables, fish, whole grains and fresh fruit containing folate, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.

Two interesting caveats posed by Aussie researchers:

1. Scientists aren't completely sure if the presence of ADHD contributes to kids making less-than-healthy food choices or if a poor diet triggers the disorder.

2. Food coloring and other additives may play a behind-the-scenes role in triggering ADHD.

Looking for guidance on choosing the right foods that can help you and your kids live longer and healthier lives? Get up to speed by reviewing our recent three-part series on nature's healthiest superfoods.

Journal of Attention Disorders July 14, 2010

FoodNavigator.com July 30, 2010

PhysOrg.com July 29, 2010

WAToday.com.au July 30, 2010