Encouraging Health

It’s a dirty little secret of food poisoning: E. coli and certain other foodborne illnesses can sometimes trigger serious health problems months or years after patients survived that initial bout.

Scientists only now are unraveling a legacy that has largely gone unnoticed, according to Lauran Neergaard of the associated press.

What they’ve spotted so far is troubling. In interviews with The Associated Press, they described high blood pressure, kidney damage, even full kidney failure striking 10 to 20 years later in people who survived severe E. coli infection as children, arthritis after a bout of salmonella or shigella, and a mysterious paralysis that can attack people who just had mild symptoms of campylobacter.

‘Folks often assume once you’re over the acute illness, that’s it, you’re back to normal and that’s the end of it,’ said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The long-term consequences are ‘an important but relatively poorly documented, poorly studied area of foodborne illness.’

These late effects are believed to make up a very small fraction of the nation’s 76 million annual food poisonings, although no one knows just how many people are at risk. A bigger question is what other illnesses have yet to be scientifically linked to food poisoning.

And with a rash of food recalls _ including more than 30 million pounds of ground beef pulled off the market last year alone _ these are questions are taking on new urgency.

‘We’re drastically underestimating the burden on society that foodborne illnesses represent,’ contends Donna Rosenbaum of the consumer advocacy group STOP, Safe Tables Our Priority.

Every week, her group hears from patients with health complaints that they suspect or have been told are related to food poisoning years earlier, like a woman who survived severe E. coli at 8 only to have her colon removed in her 20s. Or people who develop diabetes after food poisoning inflamed the pancreas. Or parents who wonder if a child’s learning problems stem from food poisoning-caused dialysis as a toddler.

‘There’s nobody to refer them to for an answer,’ says Rosenbaum.

So STOP this month is beginning the first national registry of food-poisoning survivors with long-term health problems _ people willing to share their medical histories with scientists in hopes of boosting much-needed research.

Consider Alyssa Chrobuck of Seattle, who at age 5 was hospitalized as part of the Jack-in-the-Box hamburger outbreak that 15 years ago this month made a deadly E. coli strain notorious.

She’s now a successful college student but ticks off a list of health problems unusual for a 20-year-old: High blood pressure, recurring hospitalizations for colon inflammation, a hiatal hernia, thyroid removal, endometriosis.

‘I can’t eat fatty foods. I can’t eat things that are fried, never been able to eat ice cream or milkshakes,’ says Chrobuck. ‘Would I have this many medical problems if I hadn’t had the E. coli? Definitely not. But there’s no way to tie it definitely back.’

The CDC says foodborne illnesses cause 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths a year. Among survivors, some long-term consequences are obvious from the outset. Some required kidney transplants. They may have scarred intestines that promise lasting digestive difficulty.

But when people appear to recover, it is difficult to prove that later problems really are a food-poisoning legacy and not some unfortunate coincidence. It may be that people prone to certain gastrointestinal conditions, for instance, also are genetically more vulnerable to germs that cause foodborne illness.

For now, some of the best evidence comes from the University of Utah, which has long tracked children with E. coli. About 10 percent of E. coli sufferers develop a life-threatening complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, where their kidneys and other organs fail.

Ten to 20 years after they recover, between 30 percent and half of HUS survivors will have some kidney-caused problem, says Dr. Andrew Pavia, the university’s pediatric infectious diseases chief. That includes high blood pressure caused by scarred kidneys, slowly failing kidneys, even end-stage kidney failure that requires dialysis.

‘I don’t want to leave the message that everyone who had symptoms … is in trouble,’ stresses Pavia.

Miserable as E. coli is, it doesn’t seem to trigger long-term problems unless it started shutting down the kidneys the first time around, he says. ‘People with uncomplicated diarrhea, by and large we don’t have evidence yet that they have complications.’

Other proven long-term consequences:

_About 1 in 1,000 sufferers of campylobacter, a diarrhea-causing infection spread by raw poultry, develop far more serious Guillain-Barre syndrome a month or so later. Their body attacks their

Over on our sister site, Parenting Children, Erinn, talks about Food Safety.

food poisoning, campylobacter, Guillain-Barre syndrome

food poisoning, campylobacter, Guillain-Barre syndrome

Before I get to today’s post, just wanted to let you know my cross-country move went well and I’m all settled in! Now, onto today’s story!

Boot camp helps man lose 120 pounds

Here’s a quite inspiritational story!

Two years ago, Tim Lenczowski dreaded walking from the parking lot into his office.

Weighing 335 pounds, Lenczowski suffered constantly from pain in his knees and ankles. Everyday activities such as walking and even traveling on an airplane had become difficult.

At the age of 39, he was diagnosed with a heart condition and hypertension (high blood pressure). He knew it was time to make a change and his doctor agreed.

“It was a chore to get to work. I had to park and then walk,” says Lenczowski. “By the time I got to work I was sweating and I would have to time things so I could cool off before I had a meeting.”

The extra weight not only took a toll on his physical health, but also was chipping away at his self-esteem. Lenczowski, who worked as a fundraiser for a nonprofit health organization, felt like a hypocrite.

“People would see me then … they didn’t respect me,” remembers Lenczowski. “How could I ask for money to support [the foundation] without practicing what I preached?”

Achieving various fitness goals was a tremendous boost to Lenczowski’s self-confidence. The physical accomplishments began to have a positive affect on other aspects of his life as he realized he could do anything he set his mind to. Since losing weight, he’s become more outgoing, happier, moved closer to a park, changed jobs and become a fitness instructor. He recently bought his own boot camp franchise.

“I encourage people to take that first step. I know it’s hard, but you have to find the right program,” Lenczowski says.

The dramatic weight loss and healthier lifestyle has also improved Lenczowski’s physical health. He’s no longer on heart medication and his doctor has greatly reduced his blood pressure medicines.

Lenczowski says the biggest key to his success was his network of support from friends, doctors and fitness instructors. As he approaches his goal weight, he’s set a new goal of passing his experience on to others who want to lose weight.

“I meet new people and they don’t look at the old Tim. They look at the person sitting here now — more confident, funny, loves to give back and that’s what I want to be remembered for.”

Here’s another article about weight loss.

weight loss, boot camp, health

weight loss, boot camp, health

I’ll be out of ‘commission’ the next week or so, due to a cross-country move. Please feel free to search about the blog for your health concerns, or, if you like, leave a comment, message or email!

Imprecise results aren’t worth the risks for number of doctors, patients

Ron Viarengo is pretty clear about screening for prostate cancer. He doesn’t want it.

Not the prostate-specific antigen test and definitely not the digital rectal exam. Both are routine procedures performed in about three-quarters of U.S. men older than 50.

So, news Wednesday that scientists have moved a step closer to creating a genetic test to detect the disease did nothing to sway Viarengo, a 64-year-old Vermont manufacturing sales representative.

He’s among a minority of American men who’ve weighed the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening tests — and decided that it’s better not to know.

“I think my basic philosophy is that there were way too many unknowns about it,� said Viarengo, who first considered prostate testing last summer. “I just decided that I’m not going to worry about something that is quite nebulous.�

It may be promising that American and Swedish researchers have identified genetic markers that appear to raise the risk of prostate cancer nearly 10 times in men with a family history of the disease, as reported in a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Look for more prostate on encouraging health!

prostate

prostate

bbbbbbThose Type A go-getters aren’t the only ones stressing their hearts. Nervous Nelsons seem to be, too.

Researchers reported Monday that chronic anxiety can significantly increase the risk of a heart attack, at least in men.

The findings add another trait to a growing list of psychological profiles linked to heart disease, including anger or hostility, Type A behavior, and depression.

“There’s a connection between the heart and head,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg of the New York University School of Medicine, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association who wasn’t involved in the study.

“This is very important research because we really are focused very much on prescribing medicine for cholesterol and lowering blood pressure and treating diabetes, but we don’t look at the psychological aspect of a patient’s care,” she added. Doctors “need to be aggressive about not only taking care of the traditional risk factors … but also really getting into their patients’ heads.”

The research was published Monday by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Everybody’s anxious every now and then. At issue here is not the understandable sweaty palms before a big speech or nervousness at a party, but longstanding anxiety — people who are socially withdrawn, fearful, chronic worriers. It’s a glass-half-empty personality.

University of Southern California psychologist Biing-Jiun Shen used data from a national aging study to estimate the impact of this trait on the heart.

The Normative Aging Study has tracked 735 men since 1986. They were heart-healthy at the study’s start, have completed extensive psychological testing, and undergo medical exams every three years. By 2004, there had been 75 heart attacks among the participants.

Shen tracked men who scored in the top 15 percent of anxiety scales that measure such things as excessive doubts, social insecurity, phobias and stress.

Those men deemed chronically anxious were 30 percent to 40 percent more likely to have had a heart attack than their more easygoing counterparts.

The link remained even when Shen took into account standard heart risk factors such as cholesterol problems, as well as other heart-negative personality traits.

Why? After all, a hostile person and an anxious one appear very different, one outgoing and one timid.

“Although the behavior is quite different … if you look at the physiological response of these people, they’re quite similar,” Shen said. “All have raised blood pressure, heart rate, they produce more stress hormones.”

So, would treating anxiety lower the risk? No one knows, cautioned NYU’s Goldberg. That’s why these personality traits are considered “markers” for heart disease, not outright “risk factors” like cholesterol or blood pressure.

Keep thin by not stressing!

stress, heart attack

stress, heart attack

Feeling a little low, now that the holidays have passed? For a spicy pick-me-up, add a dash of this seasoning to your favorite dishes: saffron.

Early research shows that saffron may help turn the tables on a mild case of the doldrums. And if it works for you, it’s sure one heck of a tasty way to get happy.

The Zing of Saffron
Saffron is a fairly strong spice, so you don’t have to add much to get great flavor. And you can use it instead of salt to kick up the taste of chicken, pork, and veggies.

Personally, I love using saffron wife brown rice with sautéed vegetables, like mixed squash, green peppers, etc. And, really, it does only take a few strands in hot water to bring out their pungent aroma and flavor. I’ve used saffron in pork, beef and chicken dishes, and the taste of the dish changes completely. Salt hasn’t seen my kitchen or table for over 20 years!

No-Risk Trial
Large-scale trial studies need to be conducted before the mood-boosting benefits of saffron can be completely confirmed. But there’s little harm in giving saffron a try, because researchers say there’s no major difference in the side effects you might experience from eating the herb or taking an antidepressant.

More Than the Blues?
But the benefits of saffron were only realized in mild to moderate depression, not severe depression. If you’ve been struggling with full-blown depression, get to your doctor — stat.

Jenny, over at Coaching Cooking, talks about the one of Saffron at fine restaurants.

saffron, depression, antidepressants, cooking

saffron, depression, antidepressants, cooking

Not everything is easily prevented by popping a pill. But strokes? Maybe.

Both folate and vitamin B12 seem to reduce the risk of a very common kind of stroke. Here’s how much you need.

It’s All About Homocysteine
In a study, men who had the highest folate intake reduced their risk of ischemic stroke by about 30 percent. The study is part of a growing body of research showing that both folate and vitamin B12 lower levels of homocysteine, and that may be the key to their stroke-stopping powers. High blood levels of homocysteine are linked to cardiovascular problems like stroke.

Where to Get It
Your diet is a good source of folate and B12. But you should also take a multivitamin with folate and vitamin B12 daily, to help make sure you get enough on a regular basis

Too-high homocysteine hurts your brain, too.

Data from the Framingham Offspring Study provide more evidence that increasing levels of homocysteine are associated with lower cognitive functioning in adults older than 60, but not in younger and middle-aged adults. The finding suggests to researchers that folate and vitamin B6 and B12 supplements may help prevent homocysteine-related cognitive decline.

“My concern,” Dr. Merrill F. Elias said, “is that many physicians still do not routinely include homocysteine determinations as part of the physical examination.”

High levels of homocysteine are related to risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and must be controlled for when relating homocysteine to cognitive ability, the Boston University researcher explained.

For persons over age 60 in the Framingham Offspring Study, statistically significant inverse associations between plasma total homocysteine and multiple cognitive domains were evident, regardless of adjustment for risk for stroke, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, vitamins B6, B12, and folate, he and colleagues report in the October 1st issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Want foods with Folate? click the link!

folate, homocysteine, stroke

folate, homocysteine, stroke

Do your ears ring after a loud concert? Nerves that sense touch in your face and neck may be behind the racket in your brain, University of Michigan researchers say.

Touch-sensing nerve cells step up their activity in the brain after hearing cells are damaged, a study by U-M Kresge Hearing Research Institute scientists shows. Hyperactivity of these touch-sensing neurons likely plays an important role in tinnitus, often called “ringing in the ears.” The study, now online in the European Journal of Neuroscience, will appear in the journal’s first January issue.

The research findings were made in animals, but they suggest that available treatments such as acupuncture, if used to target nerves in the head and neck, may provide relief for some people plagued by tinnitus, says Susan E. Shore, Ph.D., lead author of the study and research professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and the Kresge Hearing Research Institute at the U-M Medical School.

People with tinnitus sense ringing or other sounds in their ears or head when there is no outside source. Whether it’s mild and intermittent or chronic and severe, tinnitus affects about one in 10 people. An estimated 13 million people in Western Europe and the United States seek medical advice for it. It is a growing problem for war veterans. Since 2000, the number of veterans receiving service-connected disability for tinnitus has increased by at least 18 percent each year, according to the American Tinnitus Association.

Increasing numbers of baby boomers are also finding that when they can’t hear as well as they used to, tinnitus seems to move in. The condition commonly occurs with hearing loss, but also after head or neck trauma such as whiplash or dental work.

Tinnitus varies in individuals from a faint, high-pitched tone to whooshing ocean waves to annoying cricket-like chirping or screeching brakes. For some, it is constant and debilitating.

Some people, oddly enough, find that if they clench the jaw or press on the face or neck, they can temporarily stop tinnitus, or in some cases bring it on. To understand tinnitus and its strange link to touch sensations, Shore and her research team have conducted a series of studies in guinea pigs, measuring nerve activity in a part of the brain called the dorsal cochlear nucleus that processes auditory and other signals.

In normal hearing, the dorsal cochlear nucleus is the first stop in the brain for sound signals arriving from the ear via the auditory nerve. It’s also a hub where “multitasking” neurons process sensory signals from other parts of the brain.

For more articles on Health, search www.encouraginghealth.com

ringing in ears, tinnitus

ringing in ears, tinnitus

Supplements don’t boost health of older men, study finds

Testosterone supplements don’t do older men much good, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.

The amount of the hormone in the blood drops naturally as men age and is associated with a decline in physical strength and mental functioning as well as a fatter midsection.

In a study of 230 men aged 60 to 80, those taking testosterone pills in a relatively small dose for six months developed slightly more muscle mass and less fat compared to those not taking the hormone. But the 80-milligram supplements did not provide a boost to overall health or quality of life.

The testosterone supplementation did not have a net health benefit, wrote study author Dr. Marielle Emmelot-Vonk of University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.

To maintain good health in old age, “it is important that you eat healthy food, and it’s important that you do a lot of activity,” Emmelot-Vonk said in a statement.

Those taking supplements were no stronger and they did not exhibit greater mobility than those taking an inactive placebo. The hormone did not boost their bone density or mental functioning either, the study found.

The men taking testosterone did improve their insulin sensitivity, but they also had lower levels of “good” cholesterol compared to men taking a placebo. Losing sensitivity to insulin is a factor in adult-onset diabetes, while good cholesterol plays a role in staving off heart disease.

The participants were chosen because they had slightly lower-than-average testosterone levels before the study began.

At the end of the study, nearly half of those taking testosterone exhibited the collection of symptoms known as metabolic syndrome — a fat midsection and other conditions that can lead to heart disease and diabetes. However the difference in metabolic syndrome rates between testosterone takers and placebo takers was not considered statistically significant.

Emmelot-Vonk said the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was the largest so far on the impact of testosterone supplements.

More bad news for testosterone.

Need a testosterone boost? Visit http://www.xbox360rally.com/

testosterone, xbox 360

testosterone, xbox 360

Is your local store clearing its shelves of holiday figs? Here’s why you can’t afford to skip the bargain.

They’re packed with fiber, potassium, calcium, and so many antioxidants that they practically cancel out the effects of less nutritious foods in your diet.

Oxidative Stress Begone
That’s right. And here’s the proof in the figgy pudding. Unhealthy foods — like those high in sugar or saturated fat — increase oxidative stress in your body (think of free radicals running wild, damaging healthy cells). But when researchers measured the oxidative stress caused by drinking a sugary soda, the impact was less when the soda was consumed along with a serving of dried figs.

Want another treat?

Blackcurrants are small, juicy, dark purple berries that are high in vitamin C and have a slightly bitter taste. Boysenberries are genetically similar to blackcurrants. Both berry types are rich in anthocyanins, potent disease-fighting antioxidants. Fruits high in anthocyanins tend to have deep red or purple hues. In a recent study, researchers discovered that both blackcurrant and boysenberry extracts helped combat oxidative stress and DNA damage, two processes that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and aging. Although the study results are preliminary and need to be confirmed with further research, antioxidant-rich fruits remain a smart food choice. Eat a colorful assortment of different fruits and vegetables to get a healthy mix of disease-fighting compounds every day.

Be a Moderate Mouse
Of course, you don’t want to load up on naughty treats and follow them with a fig chaser. That’s a fast path to fat pants, because figs are high in calories. But in a world where extra sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or saturated fat sometimes seem to be added to everything, it’s good to know what foods help protect your body.

Like figs? They alsofight career & are a good source of fiber.

figs, Blackcurrants

figs, Blackcurrants