Englemed Health News This Week

Top stories from Englemed's health news services

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FRIDAY

Books on Healthy Eating
Diet getting healthier
September 17 - People often bemoan the age of junk food - but in reality most people have a much healthier diet than twenty years ago, according to new findings.

Researchers from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, concluded that people who were children 20 years ago have adopted better diets as they have got older.

The findings come from a study of 200 schoolchildren aged 11 or 12 conducted about 20 years ago.

In the 1980s researchers asked the schoolchildren to keep detailed diaries of their eating habits - and asked them again in their early 30s.

Reporting in the journal Appetite, the researchers said many young adults believed they were too busy to eat a healthy diet.

But, in fact, those who were raised to eat fruit and vegetables ate more than ever as adults.

One example is Neil a police officer who used to combine a breakfast cereal with a sweet and a boiled egg for breakfast as a child.

As an adult he now has cereal and a banana for breakfast and uses skimmed milk.

He said: "My parents always put a good meal on the table but I just wasn't interested in eating well. As a kid I didn't often have breakfast – I just went off to school, and I ate far too many sweets.

"Now I see breakfast as a really important meal of the day and I make sure that it's healthy."

Researcher Amelia Lake, of Newcastle University, said: "A lot depends on people's individual coping mechanisms and attitude to life. A lack of time is not necessarily the reason for people not attempting to eat healthily.

"Some working adults are inspired to make a healthy meal in the evenings, while somebody with the same amount of time on their hands would feel under pressure and be inclined to send out for a takeaway.

"These results suggest that the diet is really up to the individual and their personality, and that general health messages are not necessarily enough when a variety of factors are working to prevent people from eating healthily."

FRIDAY

Crohn's disease linked to TB bug
September 17 - New findings on Crohn's disease suggest that it could be caused by a type of bacteria which causes a similar disease in certain animals.

Crohn's disease is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with at least one million sufferers worldwide.

It has some similarities with tuberculosis, leprosy, and paratuberculosis, and has now been strongly linked to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). MAP was first identified in a person with Crohn's disease 20 years ago, but its role is still unclear.

Dr Saleh Naser and colleagues at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA looked for the presence of MAP in the blood of IBD patients and healthy controls.

They found live MAP in 50 per cent of Crohn's disease patients, 22 per cent of those with the IBD ulcerative colitis, and none of the controls. Results are published in this week's issue of the Lancet.

Dr Naser says, "Detection of viable MAP in the blood of Crohn's disease patients suggests that MAP infection in this IBD may be systemic. A multi-centre, larger-scale investigation is urgently needed."

Also in the Lancet is a commentary by Professor Warwick Selby of the University of Sydney, Australia.

He writes, "This report by Naser et al may still fall short of proving that MAP is one of the causes of Crohn's disease but as with similar studies it raises many important questions. The findings now need to be replicated in other laboratories. Whatever one's view, MAP cannot continue to be ignored in Crohn's disease.

"Funding bodies, laboratory and clinical researchers must clarify with some urgency, once and for all, whether this organism is important in Crohn's disease or is merely a curious bystander."

Lancet Vol 364(9439) 18–24 September 2004 pp 1013, 1039

THURSDAY

Plea for haemophilia cure
September 16 - A charity set up by a battling doctor has declared its intention to find a cure for haemophilia.

The Katherine Dormandy Trust, based in London, UK, believes that a genetic cure for the disease is very close.

It launched an appeal for five million UK pounds to enable researchers to start treating patients with new genetic cures.

The trust said potential genetic cures for haemophilia already exist in laboratories.

The trust said a cure would prove highly cost effective for the British health services which can spend some five million UK pounds on treatment over the lifetime of a patient with haemophilia.

Its chairman Professor Ted Tuddenham, director of the UK Medical Research Council's haemostasis and thrombosis research group, said: "The KD Trust has reviewed results of key world-wide gene therapy for haemophilia research projects, noting the strengths, weaknesses and wide variety of techniques developed so far.

"It is now clear that there are highly promising projects, led by UK scientists financially supported in part by the KD Trust, that have produced this cure.

"This means that a cure in humans could be just a few years away."

Dr Katherine Dormandy died from cancer at the age of 53 in 1978 five years after setting up the trust.

WEDNESDAY

Flower tea may fight cholesterol
September 15 - A popular herbal tea may have powerful anti-cholesterol properties, it was announced today.

The hibiscus flower is already used by herbalists as a treatment for high blood pressure and liver disease.

But a study conducted in Taiwan has come up with evidence that it may prevent the harmful effects of cholesterol on the arteries.

The study, using laboratory rats, showed that the tea prevented the oxidation of low density lipoprotein, the unhealthy form of cholesterol.

The oxidation process is thought to contribute to the narrowing of arteries and heart disease.

The tea also reduced overall levels of cholesterol, the researchers report in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture.

Researcher Chau-Jong Wang, of Chung Shan Medical University, said: "Experiments have shown that compounds extracted from red wine and tea reduces cholesterol and lipid build-up in the arteries of rats.

"This is the first study to show that hibiscus extract has the same effect."

TUESDAY

Hep B vaccine link to MS
September 14 - A vaccine against a liver virus could be associated with a three-fold risk of developing multiple sclerosis, US researchers claim.

The team led by Dr Miguel Hernán of Boston's Harvard School of Public Health studied 163 multiple sclerosis patients on the UK's General Practice Research Database (comprising three million Britons) - looking for cases of patients vaccinated against hepatitis B.

"We estimated that immunisation against hepatitis B was associated with a three-fold increase in the incidence of MS within the three years following vaccination," Dr Hernán said.

But he said it was important to consider the benefits of the vaccine in preventing a potentially lethal infection.

"Our study cannot distinguish whether the vaccine hastens the onset of MS in persons destined to develop the disease years later, or whether it causes new cases of MS in susceptible individuals," he said.

"It is also important to stress that 93 percent of the MS cases in our study had not been vaccinated."

Researchers called for more research to explain the association between hepatitis B vaccine and MS.

Neurology September 14 2004

TUESDAY

Books on Men's Health
Alcohol may benefit heart but not gut
September 14 - Men who undergo a common heart procedure can happily take a few drinks of alcohol after treatment, researchers reported today.

According to a new study, men who drink halve their risk of having to undergo a second treatment of balloon angioplasty.

The treatment involves opening the arteries by the insertion of a tube - inserted by a wire-controlled technique.

But a second study warns sufferers of the condition ulcerative colitis to avoid meat and alcohol.

Reporting in the journal Heart, the researchers from Heidelburg University, Germany, say that people with diabetes and non-drinkers are most likely to need to have an angioplasty repeated within four months.

More than 200 men took part in the study, of whome 172 drank more than 50 grams of alcohol a week.

The study showed that just 23 per cent of the drinkers needed a repeat procedure compared with 42 per cent of non-drinkers.

Researcher Dr Christiane Tiefenbacher said the research "further supports that moderate consumers of alcohol with an increased risk cardiovascular risk profile should not be advised to stop drinking."

The second study, in the journal Gut, finds that red meat and alcohol triple the risk of a sufferer of the bowel condition, ulcerative colitis, suffering a relapse.

The findings come from a study of 183 patients in north east England.

Researcher Dr Mark Welfare, of Newcastle University, says the cause of the problem is sulphur, which is found in high protein foods, vegetables such as broccoli and many alcoholic drinks.

MONDAY

Cannabis trial hope
September 13 - A British trial of cannabis as a treatment for multiple sclerosis has not proved as disappointing as first thought, researchers have reported.

A fifteen week trial of cannabis-based medicines had produced inconclusive results.

But after a year, researchers have now concluded that the effects of at least one form of cannabis were positive.

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, Plymouth, revealed their latest findings at the British Association Science Festival in Exeter.

More than 600 patients have been taking part in the trial, all seriously disabled by the disease.

The successful form of the drug has proved to be an extract, THC.

Researcher Dr John Zajicek said the first phase of the trial had proved difficult to evaluate because many patients correctly guessed they were taking cannabis rather than a dummy drug.

The latest findings were welcomed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

Science secretary Dr John Clements said: "The RPSGB is delighted with the encouraging results found in this study, showing evidence for long-term benefits in easing the spasticity and disability associated with MS.

"We will continue to encourage research on cannabis as a medicine as it is clear that cannabis-derived medicines have the potential to bring great benefits to patients with MS."

Back to Title Page Contents

Last Week	Contents Need News for Your Site?
FRIDAY Books on Healthy Eating	Diet getting healthier September 17 - People often bemoan the age of junk food - but in reality most people have a much healthier diet than twenty years ago, according to new findings. Researchers from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, concluded that people who were children 20 years ago have adopted better diets as they have got older. The findings come from a study of 200 schoolchildren aged 11 or 12 conducted about 20 years ago. In the 1980s researchers asked the schoolchildren to keep detailed diaries of their eating habits - and asked them again in their early 30s. Reporting in the journal Appetite, the researchers said many young adults believed they were too busy to eat a healthy diet. But, in fact, those who were raised to eat fruit and vegetables ate more than ever as adults. One example is Neil a police officer who used to combine a breakfast cereal with a sweet and a boiled egg for breakfast as a child. As an adult he now has cereal and a banana for breakfast and uses skimmed milk. He said: "My parents always put a good meal on the table but I just wasn't interested in eating well. As a kid I didn't often have breakfast – I just went off to school, and I ate far too many sweets. "Now I see breakfast as a really important meal of the day and I make sure that it's healthy." Researcher Amelia Lake, of Newcastle University, said: "A lot depends on people's individual coping mechanisms and attitude to life. A lack of time is not necessarily the reason for people not attempting to eat healthily. "Some working adults are inspired to make a healthy meal in the evenings, while somebody with the same amount of time on their hands would feel under pressure and be inclined to send out for a takeaway. "These results suggest that the diet is really up to the individual and their personality, and that general health messages are not necessarily enough when a variety of factors are working to prevent people from eating healthily."
FRIDAY	Crohn's disease linked to TB bug September 17 - New findings on Crohn's disease suggest that it could be caused by a type of bacteria which causes a similar disease in certain animals. Crohn's disease is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with at least one million sufferers worldwide. It has some similarities with tuberculosis, leprosy, and paratuberculosis, and has now been strongly linked to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). MAP was first identified in a person with Crohn's disease 20 years ago, but its role is still unclear. Dr Saleh Naser and colleagues at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA looked for the presence of MAP in the blood of IBD patients and healthy controls. They found live MAP in 50 per cent of Crohn's disease patients, 22 per cent of those with the IBD ulcerative colitis, and none of the controls. Results are published in this week's issue of the Lancet. Dr Naser says, "Detection of viable MAP in the blood of Crohn's disease patients suggests that MAP infection in this IBD may be systemic. A multi-centre, larger-scale investigation is urgently needed." Also in the Lancet is a commentary by Professor Warwick Selby of the University of Sydney, Australia. He writes, "This report by Naser et al may still fall short of proving that MAP is one of the causes of Crohn's disease but as with similar studies it raises many important questions. The findings now need to be replicated in other laboratories. Whatever one's view, MAP cannot continue to be ignored in Crohn's disease. "Funding bodies, laboratory and clinical researchers must clarify with some urgency, once and for all, whether this organism is important in Crohn's disease or is merely a curious bystander." Lancet Vol 364(9439) 18–24 September 2004 pp 1013, 1039
THURSDAY	Plea for haemophilia cure September 16 - A charity set up by a battling doctor has declared its intention to find a cure for haemophilia. The Katherine Dormandy Trust, based in London, UK, believes that a genetic cure for the disease is very close. It launched an appeal for five million UK pounds to enable researchers to start treating patients with new genetic cures. The trust said potential genetic cures for haemophilia already exist in laboratories. The trust said a cure would prove highly cost effective for the British health services which can spend some five million UK pounds on treatment over the lifetime of a patient with haemophilia. Its chairman Professor Ted Tuddenham, director of the UK Medical Research Council's haemostasis and thrombosis research group, said: "The KD Trust has reviewed results of key world-wide gene therapy for haemophilia research projects, noting the strengths, weaknesses and wide variety of techniques developed so far. "It is now clear that there are highly promising projects, led by UK scientists financially supported in part by the KD Trust, that have produced this cure. "This means that a cure in humans could be just a few years away." Dr Katherine Dormandy died from cancer at the age of 53 in 1978 five years after setting up the trust.
WEDNESDAY	Flower tea may fight cholesterol September 15 - A popular herbal tea may have powerful anti-cholesterol properties, it was announced today. The hibiscus flower is already used by herbalists as a treatment for high blood pressure and liver disease. But a study conducted in Taiwan has come up with evidence that it may prevent the harmful effects of cholesterol on the arteries. The study, using laboratory rats, showed that the tea prevented the oxidation of low density lipoprotein, the unhealthy form of cholesterol. The oxidation process is thought to contribute to the narrowing of arteries and heart disease. The tea also reduced overall levels of cholesterol, the researchers report in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture. Researcher Chau-Jong Wang, of Chung Shan Medical University, said: "Experiments have shown that compounds extracted from red wine and tea reduces cholesterol and lipid build-up in the arteries of rats. "This is the first study to show that hibiscus extract has the same effect."
TUESDAY	Hep B vaccine link to MS September 14 - A vaccine against a liver virus could be associated with a three-fold risk of developing multiple sclerosis, US researchers claim. The team led by Dr Miguel Hernán of Boston's Harvard School of Public Health studied 163 multiple sclerosis patients on the UK's General Practice Research Database (comprising three million Britons) - looking for cases of patients vaccinated against hepatitis B. "We estimated that immunisation against hepatitis B was associated with a three-fold increase in the incidence of MS within the three years following vaccination," Dr Hernán said. But he said it was important to consider the benefits of the vaccine in preventing a potentially lethal infection. "Our study cannot distinguish whether the vaccine hastens the onset of MS in persons destined to develop the disease years later, or whether it causes new cases of MS in susceptible individuals," he said. "It is also important to stress that 93 percent of the MS cases in our study had not been vaccinated." Researchers called for more research to explain the association between hepatitis B vaccine and MS. Neurology September 14 2004
TUESDAY Books on Men's Health	Alcohol may benefit heart but not gut September 14 - Men who undergo a common heart procedure can happily take a few drinks of alcohol after treatment, researchers reported today. According to a new study, men who drink halve their risk of having to undergo a second treatment of balloon angioplasty. The treatment involves opening the arteries by the insertion of a tube - inserted by a wire-controlled technique. But a second study warns sufferers of the condition ulcerative colitis to avoid meat and alcohol. Reporting in the journal Heart, the researchers from Heidelburg University, Germany, say that people with diabetes and non-drinkers are most likely to need to have an angioplasty repeated within four months. More than 200 men took part in the study, of whome 172 drank more than 50 grams of alcohol a week. The study showed that just 23 per cent of the drinkers needed a repeat procedure compared with 42 per cent of non-drinkers. Researcher Dr Christiane Tiefenbacher said the research "further supports that moderate consumers of alcohol with an increased risk cardiovascular risk profile should not be advised to stop drinking." The second study, in the journal Gut, finds that red meat and alcohol triple the risk of a sufferer of the bowel condition, ulcerative colitis, suffering a relapse. The findings come from a study of 183 patients in north east England. Researcher Dr Mark Welfare, of Newcastle University, says the cause of the problem is sulphur, which is found in high protein foods, vegetables such as broccoli and many alcoholic drinks.
MONDAY	Cannabis trial hope September 13 - A British trial of cannabis as a treatment for multiple sclerosis has not proved as disappointing as first thought, researchers have reported. A fifteen week trial of cannabis-based medicines had produced inconclusive results. But after a year, researchers have now concluded that the effects of at least one form of cannabis were positive. Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, Plymouth, revealed their latest findings at the British Association Science Festival in Exeter. More than 600 patients have been taking part in the trial, all seriously disabled by the disease. The successful form of the drug has proved to be an extract, THC. Researcher Dr John Zajicek said the first phase of the trial had proved difficult to evaluate because many patients correctly guessed they were taking cannabis rather than a dummy drug. The latest findings were welcomed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Science secretary Dr John Clements said: "The RPSGB is delighted with the encouraging results found in this study, showing evidence for long-term benefits in easing the spasticity and disability associated with MS. "We will continue to encourage research on cannabis as a medicine as it is clear that cannabis-derived medicines have the potential to bring great benefits to patients with MS."
Back to Title Page	Contents