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

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

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

The poor excuse that passes for food safety in America has reached a new low when a study in the journal Pedatrics warns us about the problems with handling dry pet foods connected to Salmonella, the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness.

Of the 79 patients living in 21 states tracked in the study who suffered Salmonella-related infections, nearly half of them were children age 2 or younger. Even worse, just handling dry pet food -- presumably, from the bowl or off the floor -- and dirty food bowls, or touching pets that were carriers of salmonella were the problems. According to Dr. Casey Behravesh, a veterinarian working for the CDC and the lead researcher for the study, kids didn't increase their risk of getting sick merely by eating dry pet food.

The Pediatrics study couldn't be timed better, considering Procter & Gamble recalled varieties of its Iams and Eukanuba dry dog and cat foods in late July due to concerns about Salmonella contamination.

This problem underscores the need for thorough and frequent hand-washing by EVERYONE after handling pets and their foods, as well as placing and cleaning your pet's food bowls in the kitchen, according to the study.

FYI, after beginning her research, Dr. Behravesh, the mother of a 4-year-old child, relocated the feeding area for her pets -- a cat, dog and bird -- to a sunroom and away from her kitchen.

Pediatrics August 9, 2010

Yahoo News August 9, 2010

USA Today August 8, 2010

Chicago Tribune: ProblemSolver August 3, 2010

A theme we emphasize on this blog a lot: Working closely with your doctor BEFORE and WHILE you're taking a supplement to ensure your health isn't being harmed by any unexpected interactions. It's one of the important tenets of our Nutritional Supplement Quality -- The Facts, and a really smart thing for you to do. If your doctor is eager and willing to help, consider yourself among the lucky ones…

Based on observational research conducted by the FDA and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, cardiologists and specialists in training play the "don't ask, don't tell" game very effectively with patients when it comes to their use of supplements and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. How "well" did doctors play the game? Of the 78 patient interactions with 21 cardiologists that researchers observed, physicians failed to ask about OTC drugs and supplements 98 percent of the time.

This second revealing facet of the study may or may not surprise or upset you, however, as much as it did me. As doctors were consulting with their patients, a clinical pharmacist who remained silent during the encounter was observing both parties. After doctors left the room, the pharmacist asked patients about their supplement and OTC drug use. More than two-thirds of the patients monitored (54) took 45 OTC drugs and 86 supplements. By contrast, cardiologists asked patients about their use of both just seven times.

Should you be wary of any possible interaction with a supplement and your doctor hasn't discussed it with you, I urge you to do two things. First, use our extensive Health Information & Answer database to help you determine if there could be a problem with your treatment regimen.

Lastly, spend a little time "training" your doctor to be your trusted and attentive health advocate, if he or she isn't one already. Or, go look for one who will.

Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 153, No. 1, pp. 65-66, July 6, 2010

NutraIngredients-USA.com July 7, 2010

Cancer detection may have gotten a whole lot easier, faster and cheaper, with the help of a $400 digital camera attached to fiber-optic cables that allowed researchers and bioengineers at Rice University and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to discern healthy cells from diseased ones.

Scientists captured images of three kinds of cells -- lab-grown cancer cells, tissue samples from tumors and healthy cells viewed from the mouths of patients -- with fiber-optic cables attached to an Olympus E-330 camera and a fluorescent dye that lit up cell nuclei. Even on a 2.5-inch LCD screen, the distorted nuclei of cancer cells and pre-cancerous cells were easy to distinguish from healthy ones.

Interestingly, these techniques used by researchers to spot cancer cells are the same ones used for a long time by pathologists on biopsied tissues, though never before with a device that handy, portable and battery-powered. And, how nifty would it be for your oncologist to be able to spot cancer cells immediately or to track how responsive your body is to your current treatment regimen?

All the more reason to get more knowledgeable about the technology that, one day, may be a life-saver for you and yours.

Image source: Rice University

PLOS One June 24, 2010 Free Full Text Study

Rice University June 24, 2010

CNET Health Tech June 24, 2010

It was only a matter of time before the words Gulf oil spill and cancer were mentioned, almost in the same sentence. Even as the Gulf of Mexico bleeds oil, however, some of the nation's best health experts, speaking at a recent Institutes of Health panel in New Orleans, weren't willing to go out on a limb to predict the long-term physical health effects of this disaster, much less cancer risks (apart from the propensity of mental health problems) any time soon.

That said, University of Rhode Island professor Dr. Bongsup Cho, who has studied the effect of environmental toxins on DNA mutations for nearly two decades at the behest of the American Cancer Society and National Institutes of Health, believes some of the very same cancer-causing components in overcooked meats, cigarette smoke and diesel fumes are also present in the gooey tar balls and muck washing up on beaches and marshes along the Gulf Coast.

Dr. Cho may be just as cautious as his peers at the federal level about predictions, but he isn't shy about discussing his concerns with the aforementioned tar balls that contain "non-volatile, benzene-like, heavily unsaturated hydrocarbons with high boiling points." One of the components of these tarballs: Benzo[a]pyrene, a five-ring, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that is mutagenic (meaning it can change the DNA of an organism) and carcinogenic. So, it should come as no surprise that scientists found damaged DNA in the blood of workers cleaning up after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill too.

Another concern: The orange sheen you've seen on news reports floating on top of the Gulf waters is "the result of a chemical reaction involving the sun, the crude oil and the oil dispersants," Dr. Cho says. Nobody knows what that color is made from or how toxic it may be, largely due to the 35-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act that "protects" an unknown amount of chemicals from public and private scrutiny.

The EPA has been attempting to unravel and reform the act, and it can't come soon enough to help us deal with this toxic mess in the Gulf.

Image source: EPA photo by Eric Vance

University of Rhode Island June 21, 2010

New Scientist June 28, 2010

Medscape June 28, 2010 Free Registration Required

Scientific American June 24, 2010

You probably haven't heard of furan, a colorless industrial chemical used to make resins, lacquers and agricultural products. I hadn't either, until I did some digging for today's post about its presence in fruit juices containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that had been treated with ultraviolet light (UV-C).

Six years ago, FDA scientists found furan in a wide range of processed foods, not that long after identifying its far more popular cousin, acrylamide, a health-harming carcinogen present in great quantities in cooked foods.

Like acrylamide, furan levels were highest in foods cooked in high heat, like pretzels and popcorn, according to FDA testing conducted in 2008. Surprisingly, even raw broccoli contained a miniscule amount of furan. According to a 2004 FDA Q&A page, the concern about furan: Exposure to high doses caused cancer in earlier animal studies.

Which brings us to this more recent study that compared furan levels in fruit juices prepared in a lab containing different sugars with store-bought varieties. Illinois Institute of Technology scientists learned the presence of HFCS -- not sucrose or glucose -- in lab-prepared juices triggered the formation of furan. And, furan levels varied, depending on the amounts of acidic pH that spiked production and ascorbic acid that suppressed it.

Just another in an litany of reasons you should be paying closer attention to the sugars "hiding" in your processed foods.

Food Chemistry, Vol. 120, No. 3, pp. 934-939, June 1, 2010

NutraIngredients-USA.com May 14, 2010

We've discussed the many ways stress affects your health almost always for the negative in this space. The stress that comes from working overtime, according to a European study, can be just as damaging to your heart.

Based on medical data collected on some 6,000 patients over 11 years, civil service employees who worked more than three hours (on top of their typical seven-hour day) elevated their risk for non-fatal heart attacks, angina and death due to heart disease by 60 percent, compared to those who avoided OT.

Unfortunately, the study pinpointed many possibilities for the spike in heart disease -- type A behaviors, sleep deprivation, stress, a lack of work-related freedom and high blood pressure -- but no firm culprits. And, it didn't track blue-collar workers either, which makes me wonder if those downbeat numbers would've risen even higher.

Unfortunately, stress isn't the only thing that can harm your heart. Check out our Facebook page for an interesting study we posted recently about the deadly mix of bottled-up anger and cardiac problems and many more links to studies than we have room to post here.

European Heart Journal May 11, 2010

ScienceDaily May 11, 2010

Nutrient-rich, dark chocolate may be good for boosting your heart health and protecting your DNA. Unfortunately, people tend to reach for chocolate -- either the milky, fat-laden kind commonly found in most candy bars or the healthier dark stuff -- as their moods darken too, according to an examination of some 1,000 healthy patients who were asked about the amount of chocolate they consumed during an average week and screened for their emotional health. Prior to the study, all patients reported no problems with diabetes or their hearts and didn't take an antidepressant.

Patients who had no measurable problems with depression ate the least amount of chocolate per month (five servings), while those fighting some moodiness consumed a bit more (eight servings). Those with the highest depression scores (based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) ate almost 12 chocolaty servings.

Interestingly, there was no difference in the amount of antioxidant-rich foods (coffee, fruits, veggies and fish) consumed by patients with or without depressive moods. And, the desire for chocolate couldn't be attributed to an overall increase in the amount of fats, caffeine or carbohydrates patients consumed either.

Only time and more research will determine the connections between chocolate and depressive moods. In the meantime, however, if you like chocolate, be sure to eat it in moderation and always go for the darker stuff that contains more cocoa and less sugar.

Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 170, No. 8, pp. 699-703, April 26, 2010

ScienceDaily April 26, 2010

Obesity and a general lack of physical activity may not only be the trigger points for cancer and cardiovascular problems. Fibromyalgia, a complex, chronic condition punctuated by a cluster of symptoms, including widespread pain, fatigue and tenderness throughout the body, is very much affected by them too.

Not unlike the results I posted in this space last year about exercise shrinking a black man's prostate cancer risks, among the 380 reports of fibromyalgia out of a group of nearly 16,000 women, patients who exercised at least four times a week lowered their fibromyalgia risks by 29 percent, taking into account the intensity, frequency and duration of their activity.

On the other hand, overweight or obese women with BMI scores greater than 25 elevated their fibromyalgia risks by an alarming 70 percent, compared to those who maintained a lower weight. And, obese and overweight women who were either sedentary or only exercised an hour or less each week more than doubled their odds of facing fibromyalgia some time in their lives.

I never fully appreciated how much studies like these would mean to my family until my wife, Sandy, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia some 13 years ago, after countless visits with doctors and specialists about chronic fatigue exacerbated by excruciating, bone-chilling pains all over her body that yielded nothing more dead ends, if not skepticism. And, for a little while, even I was skeptical. But not for very long…

That is, until one primary care physician -- out of a frightening series of them -- matter-of-factly recognized Sandy's collection of symptoms as fibromyalgia and prescribed treatments that actually worked.

In many cases, you would be correct in assuming that knowing the problem goes a long way toward solving it. Sadly, that's only been partially true in our situation. Even now, the cluster of symptoms slide back and forth from the severe to the near non-existent so very quickly that it often knocks both of us for a loop. That's why we've taken better care of our collective health in recent years by incorporating better foods and more activity as often as we can into our daily lives. Every little bit helps…

Unfortunately, among still too many health professionals, fibromyalgia remains a mystery which is why the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) sponsors an annual Awareness Day -- today's the day -- to promote better understanding for this complex, frustrating and often crippling disease. Here's hoping, sooner rather than later, the NFA can spend all of its precious time and attention on funding more research and finding better treatments, and a lot less on awareness.

Arthritis Care & Research, Vol. 62, No. 5, pp. 611-617, May 2010

EurekAlert April 29, 2010

You may recall my recent post about the benefits of music for your health. This time, it's listening to soft music on your iPod or any other music player of your choice in a quiet place that can be just as relaxing and beneficial for your mind and body as a series of massage sessions, according to a new study comparing the effectiveness of various complementary and alternative medical (CAM) treatments to reduce anxiety.

Over a three-month period, 68 patients were assigned either to 10 one-hour therapeutic massage sessions or a pair of control treatments: relaxation therapy or thermotherapy (legs and arms were wrapped intermittently with warm towels and heating pads). All participants were treated on massage tables in a softly lighted room, surrounded by quiet music.

Interestingly, all three groups reported a 40 percent symptomatic decrease in anxiety at the conclusion of this series of treatments and a matching 50 percent drop three months later, surprising researchers that there was no real difference between therapeutic massage, thermotherapy or listening to relaxing music.

As much as I love a good massage, nothing relaxes me more than knowing I can save a few bucks and improve my mental health just by spending a few minutes listening to Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, the Greek composer better known in the world of cinematic music as Vangelis.

Depression and Anxiety February 23, 2010

healthfinder.gov March 19, 2010

ScienceDaily March 11, 2010

Add a pair of studies to the "pro" side of drinking coffee, this time linked to reducing one's risk of type 2 diabetes. Only a single catch: The more java one drinks, the smaller the risk.

After tracking the health of nearly 1,150 healthy, diabetes-free Native Americans between ages 45-74 for more than seven years in one study, scientists found patients who consumed the most coffee -- 12 cups or more every day -- enjoyed the biggest benefit: A 67 percent reduction in the risk of developing diabetes, compared to folks who don't drink it. Even more surprising was that 8 percent of the patients actually drank that much coffee every day.

Interestingly, drinking up to four cups of coffee was associated with just a 13 percent drop in a patient's risks of facing diabetes, but consuming as many as 11 cups raised one's level of protection only to 22 percent.

However, the risk reductions were a bit higher in a late 2009 Archives of Internal Medicine study, related not only to coffee, but decaffeinated coffee and tea as well. Folks who drank three or four cups of coffee every day lessened their risks of diabetes by about 25 percent compared to those who drank two cups or less.

And, surprisingly, reductions in diabetes risks were comparable or even higher among patients consuming more than three to four cups of decaf coffee (33 percent) and tea (20 percent).

Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases February 19, 2010

NutraIngredients-USA February 24, 2010

EurekAlert December 14, 2009

If women needed another good reason to get the right amount of sleep for their good health, besides helping them fight arthritis, the perimenopausal interval in a woman's life appears to demand it, according to a British study.

Researchers discovered the anomaly while comparing the health of some 3,000 men and women without cardiovascular disease for any links between sleep duration and hypertension. Unfortunately, the correlation between a lack of sleep -- less than six hours per night -- and hypertension affected only women, not men.

Overall, women who skipped on their sleep were 66 percent more likely to battle hypertension than those who slept more than six hours nightly. Moreover, this problem was experienced more than two-fold among women who were transitioning into menopause than those who were already past their child-bearing years.

All the more reason to check out these tips for improving your waking health by getting more sleep. (By the way, none of the items on this extensive sleep checklist require that you take a drug.)

Journal of Hypertension December 25, 2009

Warwick Medical School (UK) January 11, 2010

Unfortunately, concerns about children not getting the minimum amount of vitamin D they need to build healthy bones were more than warranted, based on the findings of a new study that recommends serious increases in the average daily intake of the sunshine vitamin during the winter months, especially for black men and women.

Scientists from the University of California-Davis made those recommendations after studying 72 patients for up to eight weeks in Northern California during each of the four seasons over the course of a year.

To achieve the right amount of vitamin D, light-skinned people of European ancestry who enjoy high sun exposure require 1,300 IU (international units) every day during the winter months. Conversely, blacks with low sun exposure need anywhere from 2,100-3,100 IU daily throughout the year, according to the study.

NutraIngredients-USA.com January 14, 2010