Category Archives: Longevity Medicine

A new report from the Mayo Clinic points out that your cholesterol levels can reflect details about your overall health including the quality of your diet and exercise plan.

Your cholesterol levels can tell you more than just your levels of triglycerides!  Researchers have now determined that cholesterol levels can now also report on a person’s lifestyle choices.  The Mayo Clinic Health Letter recently released their findings that a person’s level of overall health is reflected in their good and bad cholesterol levels.

While cholesterol is normal for our bodies and is found in all of our cells, too much cholesterol can put your blood vessels at risk.  Bad cholesterol can cause our blood vessels to narrow and blood flow to be restricted.  Obviously this is a problem that can lead to health problems like heart attack and stroke.

If you are looking to reduce your LDL levels, be sure to eat less saturated fats, trans fats and increase your intake of healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil and flax seed oil.  Also foods high in soluble fiber, such as oatmeal,  are recommended to reduce the LDL.

HDL levels reflect good cholesterol. If you have low HDL, this fact means that you may very well have a sedentary lifestyle.  Also, more than likely, you don’t exercise enough.  Exercising, of course, has a number of health benefits including raising your levels of good cholesterol.

According to P.K. Shah, MD, director of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “Boosting HDL is the next frontier in heart disease prevention.”  Reducing your calories, sugar, and alcohol consumption can also improve your HDL levels.

Fish oil can also go a long way in helping people with low HDL.  Other suggestions include red yeast rice supplementation, taking a niacin supplement, and eating foods that have lower glycemic levels.

Sources:
medicalnewstoday.com
webmd.com

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Temple’s Center for Obesity Research is studying the link between emotional eating and the ability for people to keep weight off long-term.

It is no secret that people trying to lose weight seek to control their eating habits.  However, many people don’t realize that their emotions play into their ability to control their food choices.  Unfortunately, many weight loss programs neglect to address this issue.

While dieters may try to choose better foods and exercise, often they are unable to do so effectively.  If people can’t cope with their emotions, how can they really change their eating habits?  Emotions can make people give up on their diets and turn to things like junk food.

A recent study at Temple’s Center for Obesity Research seeks to answer this question by putting together a treatment that teaches people skills to address emotional eating.  This study is funded by the National Institute of Health.

The idea behind this new treatment program is that emotional skills will be taught to people who are chronic overeaters.  This education will be added to this weight loss treatment program that focuses on behavior.  The program teaches different techniques that seek to break the cycle of emotional eating. Researchers are interested in creating a program that addresses emotions and helps participants to achieve long-term weight loss success.

Janet Williams is part of one of the first groups to go through this treatment. She stated, “”The program doesn’t just help you identify when you eat,” said Williams. “It helps you recognize triggers that make you eat, to help you break that cycle of reaching for food every time you feel bored, or frustrated, or sad.”

Sources:
medicalnewstoday.com

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A recent presidential study has concluded that the carcinogens in the environment are contributing to high cancer rates.

As time goes on and on, more sources point to the fact that cancer is caused by carcinogens in the environment.  In fact, a new report was just released that was completed by a expert panel that currently advises Barack Obama. This panel, called the President’s Cancer Panel (or PCP), was set up in the 1970’s.

This 240 page report, which is available for the public to download, is called “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now.”  The report concludes that the known carcinogens in the environment are increasing, and they need to be dealt with by the government.

Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall, Jr. chairperson of the PCP stated, “There remains a great deal to be done to identify the many existing but unrecognized environmental carcinogens and eliminate those that are known from our daily lives – our workplaces, schools and homes.”  According to the report, people are exposed to up to 80,000 chemicals each day and many of them are completely unregulated.  These chemicals include radon, formaldehyde, and benzene.  Oftentimes people are completely unaware that they are being exposed to these cancer-causing chemicals.

The panel urged the government to take better steps to reduce people’s exposure to toxins by doing things like improving the understanding about these toxins, developing a better policy towards them and raising awareness. These are just a few of the suggestions made by the PCP.

The good news, however, is that researchers are learning more all the time about natural ways to treat cancer.  For example, exercise is an easy and effective way to fight cancer.  Additionally, turmeric is an extremely powerful herb that can actually kill cancer cells.  Turmeric contains the chemical curcumin.  Recent tests by the Cork Cancer Research Center show that curcumin can actually destroy cancer cells.

Sources:
news.bbc.co.uk
medicalnewstoday.com

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New research indicates that people who ingest more olive oil, grapeseed oil and peanut oil are less likely to get ulcerative colitis.

A new study by researchers at the University of East Anglia has shown that consuming more olive oil can actually prevent ulcerative colitis.  The findings were presented at this year’s Digestive Disease Week conference in New Orleans.  The study centered on oleic acid, which is present in olive oil, peanut oil and grapeseed oil.  Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid.

Over 120,000 people in the UK and 1 million in the US have ulcerative colitis.  The disease causes inflammation in the lining of the colon and bowel leading to pain and diarrhea.  Other symptoms of ulcerative colitis include fever, weight loss, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

This new research studied over 25,000 middle-aged people in the UK who did not have ulcerative colitis.  The participants completed food diaries during the study, which were then analyzed by nutritionists.

When researchers analyzed the results, they found that the people, who developed ulcerative colitis, had the lowest intake of oleic acid.  On the other hand, those who ate the most foods with oleic acid had a 90% less change of getting ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Andrew Hart was the leader of the research, he stated, “We estimate that around half of the cases of ulcerative colitis could be prevented if larger amounts of oleic acid were consumed.  Two-to-three tablespoons of olive oil per day would have a protective effect.”

Other dietary suggestions for those with ulcerative colitis include drinking lots of water, eating smaller portions, and avoiding fattening greasy foods.  Obviously, these are good suggestions for everyone, even if this digestive issue does not impact them.

Sources:
health.google.com
medicalnewstoday.com

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Vitamin E has been shown to improve liver function for those with fatty liver disease. This is a serious issue that impacts approximately 5% of Americans and can actually be fatal in some cases.

One of the most common liver diseases related to obesity is called fatty liver disease.  Unfortunately, doctors currently believe that this issue has no form of treatment.  However, researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered that Vitamin E can help patients with fatty liver disease.  Researchers were surprised at these findings, as typically vitamin supplements are only thought by medical professionals to treat problems caused by nutritional deficiencies.

When people have fatty liver disease, fat can build up in the liver and cause inflammation as well as scarring.  Eventually this can cause a liver to fail in some extreme cases.  Fatty liver disease is common in middle-aged people who are overweight.  Up to 5% of Americans are reported to have this issue.

In this new study, 247 people with advanced fatty liver disease were assigned to one of three groups.  One group took vitamin E in a high dosage, one group took a placebo and one took a diabetes drug called Actos. Biopsies showed that those who took Vitamin E saw a 43% increase in liver function.  While participants who took Actos also saw improvement in their livers, the percentage of increased liver function was not as high as in the group taking Vitamin E.  Also these people who took Actos gained weight during the experiment.

Other treatments for fatty liver disease include losing weight by eating right and exercising.

Aside from treating fatty liver disease, Vitamin E also has a number of other health applications.  As an antioxidant, it can fight cell damage that is caused by free radicals.  It can also protect against prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.  As Vitamin E taken in large doses can be toxic, be sure to follow the recommendation on the label.  Also, consult with your physician prior to supplementing with Vitamin E if you’re taking a blood thinner.

Last but not least, synthetic vitamin E doesn’t work the same as natural Vitamin E.  Therefore, be sure to take the natural form, which is D-alpha tocopherol.

Sources:
news.yahoo.com
whfoods.com

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Fibromyalgia remains a health problem that is surrounded by a great deal of mystery. However, researchers have proved that those people who exercise and are at a healthy weight are less likely to develop the problem.

A new study from Norwegian University of Science and Technology has shown that overweight and obese women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia.  This study was published in the May issue of Arthritis Care and Research.

Fibromyalgia includes long-lasting pain in points including the neck, shoulder, back, hips, arms and legs.  People with this issue commonly have fatigue, headaches, and trouble with their moods.  Sleep can also be disrupted. The cause of this problem is unknown, though genetics are believed to be a factor.

Some experts believe that fibromyalgia is caused from a dysfunctional nervous system.  Fibromyalgia impacts over 2% of the population of the United States.  Women are more likely than men to develop this problem. The likelihood of fibromyalgia also increases with age.

In this Norwegian study, 16.000 people were surveyed over a period of years.  As it turned out, of the group 380 people developed fibromyalgia. The patient’s exercise habits and BMI were examined over the years.  The results showed that people who exercised and were at a healthy weight were far less likely to have fibromyalgia.

Lead researcher Paul Mork said, “Women who reported exercising four times per week [or more] had a 29 percent lower risk of fibromyalgia compared with inactive women.”  Additionally, women who were heavier had a 60-70% higher change of getting fibromyalgia.  However, the overweight women who exercised were less likely to develop the problem.

As fibromyalgia does seem to run in families, this news is especially relevant for those with a family history.  Those who already have the condition can reduce pain if they reduce their weight and incorporate exercise into their routine.

Sources:
news.health.com
mayoclinic.com

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