Author Archives: Editor

Air Pollution linked to heart attacks

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London: A UK government report has found a link between traffic fumes and deaths and other hospital admissions for heart disease.

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution concluded that pollution could trigger heart attacks and strokes and warned that the public should be concerned.

The report focused on nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide – all found in traffic fumes and said there were “clear associations” between exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular damage.

The findings were inconclusive as to what exact causes the damage but said there were three possibilities: pollution particles cause a chemical reaction tiggering a stroke; that plaques break away from artery walls causing a blockage and that particles affect the heart’s rhythm.

Committee chairman Professor Jon Ayres said the findings illustrated the need for further research.

UK’s foremost expert on hormones warns about the dangers of statins

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London: One of Britain’s foremost experts on hormones today warned of the dangers of statins, the cholesterol busting family of drugs.

Dr John Moran said that taking too much could deplete the body of vital hormones, such as testosterone and oestrogen, which are processed in the body from cholesterol.

Statins, not only deplete the body of cholesterol but also the beneficial natural substance, co-Enzyme Q10, an anti-oxidant and cellular energiser which is present in healthy hearts.

Dr Moran of the Holistic Medical Clinic in London’s Wimpole Street was commenting on the recent decision by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to recommend that GPs prescribe statins to anyone with a 20 per cent chance of having a heart attack or stroke over the next ten years. Patients are also going to be able to buy statins across the counter.

Dr Moran, who specialises in advanced hormone replacement therapies for men and women said: “Taking too much of a statin could prevent the manufacture of vital hormones, such as testosterone which is responsible for a host of body functions, including sex drive. Patients should be aware that there are side effects, but anyone who has been prescribed statins should not stop taking them but consult their doctor, particularly those with diabetes or heart or stroke problems.

“One of my other concerns is that people will be able to buy statins over the counter and might not be aware of the consequences of taking the incorrect dose. In some people statins can raise liver enzymes to an unacceptable level which means the liver is not working efficieciently. They can also cause muscle aches and pains. On the whole statins are an amazing drug for preventing the risks of cardio-vascular disease but .”

Contact: John Moran RD, MBBS, DFFP, PG Dip.Nutri.Med at the Holistic Medical Clinic, London, W1 on 020 7935 4870 or mobile 07860 417874

Obese children likely to die before parents, says new government report

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London: At lease one in four children aged between two and ten is overweight or obese, a UK government report reveals.

These children face a lifetime of weight-related health problems and cost the taxpayer more than £5bn by 2010. They could also die before their parents.

The report from the National Audit Office, the Healthcare Commission and the Audit Commission says slow progress is being made towards delivering on the target cut for lowering obesity, set in July 2004.

Recent figures show that obesity had increased from 9.6 per cent of youngsters in 1995 to 13.7 per cent in 2003. The proportion of children who were overweight or obese rose from 22.7 per cent to 27.7 per cent.

The cost of childhood and adult obesity to the UK health service is around £1billion. There is a further £2.3billion to £2.6billion cost to the economy as a whole – this includes lost productivity. But Mr Bundred said the cost to the economy alone could rise to £3.6billion by 2010, with more than £1billion in costs to the NHS – a bill close to £5billion.

The report’s recommendations include the need for better local guidance on initiatives, such as increasing use of school sports facilities outside school hours.

Obesity causing adult diabetes in children

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London: Children in the UK as young as nine years are suffering from adult type diabetes, according to new figures from doctors.

Type 2 diabetes, which normally affects middle-aged adults, across the country, and is blamed on the huge increase in obesity. has been diagnosed in 100 children in the past year.

The figures released to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health could mean that some young children will look forward to ill health throughout their lives, including increased risk of heart disease, stroke, eye and kidney problems.

As well as diabetes, a further 60,000 youngsters are thought to be suffering from weight-related metabolic syndrome – a combination of conditionsincluding high blood pressure and raised cholesterol – which is thought to precede Type 2 diabetes.

Dr Julian Shield, the Bristol University paediatrician responsible for the research, said the figures were “shocking.”

Diet sugars may pile on the pounds, says top psychologist

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Swansea: Artificial sweetners, do not help slimmers to loose weight, says a top medical experts.

Professor David Benton, a psychologist from Swansea University in Wales, said those who use artificial sweetners are more likely to eat more of other foods and eat even more calories.

In a report in the magazine, Nutrition Research he says slimmers would be better off cutting out fat. He says people may compensate for the lack of sugar by eating more of other foods, which may have even more calories. Professor Benton, a psychologist who has written a report in the journal Nutrition Research Review, said people trying to lose weight and keep it off would be better reducing fat intake rather than calories in sugar.

Professor Benton, whose report was partly funded by the sugar industry,said it was questionable as to whether artificial sweetners were helpful in the long term.

Older mothers live longer, say doctors

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London: Older mothers may live longer because of the hormone oestrogen and because they don’t have lots of children, according to doctors in a TV programme on the National Geographic Channel programme called Animal Ageing Secrets (12 March 2pm UK).

Larger amounts of the hormone oestrogen are released when a women becomes pregnant helping extending lifespan by protecting the body from various diseases of ageing such as osteoporosis. Normally the hormone declines from around the age of 30.

Oestrogen is given to women as part of hormone replacement therapy to relieve some of the effects of the menopause which can lead to loss of skin elasticity, hair loss and othe symptom such as hot flushes and obesity.

The bodies of older mothers are also likely to suffer less wear and tear than younger mothers because they tend to have fewer children, say scientists from the University of Manchester. Dr Dawn Skelton said: ‘After 30, there is a dramatic reduction of oestrogen in women.

‘By leaving it longer before having our first child, we’re giving ourselves a big burst of oestrogen, which helps in all sorts of ways – muscle, bone, nervous function.

‘It also helps that the later we reproduce, the less we reproduce.

‘It means that we’re not going to have lots of babies – the more children we have, the bigger toll it takes on our bodies.’

A good love life may also increase life expectancy.

‘A healthy sex life can have enormous benefits,’ added Dr Skelton, who is to feature on a
‘Testosterone levels drop in men and women as they grow older. But sex produces more testosterone, which may help keep our hearts in good shape. Those people who maintain a healthy sex life have a better outlook on life.

‘And trials of the oldest among us – 90-year- olds and above – show that 20 per cent are still actively engaged in sex.

‘That activity increases heart rate and the metabolism and decreases stress.’

In the UK in 2004, 22,700 women over 40 became pregnant, up by 1,800 on 2003 – the highest number since the post-war baby boom of the early 1960s. The figures follow growing concern of a ‘baby gap’ caused by women putting their career and financial security ahead of starting a family. And sn estimated 92,000 planned babies a year are never born because women who choose to delay motherhood have fertility problems.

Slimline apple created by scientists

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Los Angeles: Apples with half the calories of normal fruit have been created by researchers at the University of California Davis.

The apples which have been created by boosting the fruits’ production of thatural sweetner sorbitol, are supposed to taste as good as ordinary apples, says an article in Chemistry & Industry Magazine. The advantage is that sorbitol has 45 per cent fewer calories per gram than other sugars in the apple.

Most fruits contain sorbitol and include pears, peaches, plums and cherries could one day be available in similarly low-sugar, sweet-tasting varieties.

The apples were genetically modified to achieve the low-calorie version. Apples are already a fraction of the calories of chocolate and also have a low Glycemic Index which means they supply energy slowly into the body, making them a healthy choice for dieters.

Red grapefruit lowers cholesterol

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Jerusalem: Eating one whole red grapefruit daily, decreases blood fat levels, researchers in Israel have discovered.

The researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem tested white and red grapefruit on patients who had not responded to the cholesterol-lowering group of drugs known as statins. All had undergone heart bypass surgery.

After 30 days it was found that those who had consumed red grapefruit had lowered levels of blood fats called lipids. Those who consumed white grapefruit also suffered a decrease but the effect was not as marked.

US researchers working on use of stem cells for eye disease

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Durham: Medical researchers in the US are investigating the use of stem cells for eye diseases. Early findings at Duke University indicate that stem cells may benefit those suffering from glaucoma, macular degeneration and the effects of diabetes.

Ophthalmology researcher Dennis Rickman said the cells migrate to the site of injury and integrate into the tissue of those cells. Although research is at an arly stage and a lot more work needs to be done before th potential of the cells is untapped.

Studies have taken place on mice and rats, using rodent stem cells. But more tests are needed to prove effacacy, including measurement of their responses to light using an electroretinagram.

Rickman has established a charity, SCIEyes to develop alternative sources of funding. SCIfEyes received $10,000 last November from “Saturday Night Live” comedian Will Forte, who is its national spokesman, during Forte’s visit to Duke.
Building a base for the long term and for the next generation of researchers, is another priority for SCIfEyes, said Dennis Rickman, 54.

SCIfEyes: www.scifeyes.org
National Marrow Donor Program: www.marrow.org

People in their fifties likely to live to 100 years

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Stanford: People in their 50s today can expect to live to 100, according to a leading US biologist.

Dr Shripad Tuljapurkar, from Stanford University in California, speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in St Louis, Missouri, said that medical advances including cholesterol-lowering drugs and new cancer medicines which have already treated some of the illnesses of old age would be joined by new discoveries, adding an extra 20 years of life for most people.

This means that by 2050, the average age of death will be 100 instead of 80. And means people may have more than one career and several marriages may become more common.

Life expectancy currently increases by one year every five years.At the moment, every five years life expectancy goes up by one year, he told the
But from 2010 onwards it could start to go up five years for every five calendar years that pass.

‘Lifespan has been increasing over the last 150 years and shows little sign of slowing down,’ said Dr Tuljapurkar.

‘Some people believe we are on the brink of being able to extend human lifespan significantly because we’ve got most of the technologies we need to do it.’

There are no specific ‘antiageing drugs’ yet, and scientists are still a long way from even beginning trials in humans.

But Dr Tuljapurkar said blood pressure drugs and statins are already helping prolong life for many. Statins help lower harmful cholesterol and are already taken by more than one million Britons.

In the future, he said, drugs may be found that can slow down cancer progression for decades rather than months or years.

He also predicted that drugs to control our metabolism may one day allow us to delay the normal tissue breakdown that is part of the ageing process.

Doctors may also develop treatments which enable our bodies to repair damage to the genetic material of our cells and so prevent the kind of mutations that lead to diseases such as cancer.

For his research, he looked at the U.S., China, Sweden and India and concluded that growing life expectancy could have huge economic consequences for all.

He warned that if anti-ageing drugs were developed, they would probably only be available in wealthy countries.

Vaccine for Crohn’s disease trialled

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London: British medical experts have developed a vaccine that could cure sufferers of Crohn’s disease.

Professor John Hermon-Taylor, who developed the vaccine at London’s St George’s Hospital, says that trials have gone well.

Prof Hermon-Taylor’s research shows that a bug called mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), which is found in sheep, pigs and cows and passed into the food chain via water and milk, is the cause of most human cases of Crohn’s disease.

But those with a family history of ulcerative colitis (another bowel disorder) also run a higher risk of getting the disease. And stress is thought to exacerbate the illness, which can affect any part of the digestive system.
Most people with the disease end up requiring surgery to repair their damaged bowel, and half of those will need a second operation within ten years.

The new vaccine helps sufferers by stimulating their immune systems to clear MAP from their bodies. It can also be used to immunise people and even animals against the disease.

The symptoms of Crohn’s disease are often vague and difficult to identify. They can be chronic diarrhoea and abdominal pain, fever, lack of appetite, weight loss and a feeling of fullness in the gut.

The new vaccine was made using two safe viruses — a cold virus and one used in smallpox vaccine. The research team attached them to a fragment of MAP DNA. Once in the body, they stimulate the white blood cells to kill the bacteria.

In a patient vaccinated against Crohn’s, the immune system would be armed to fight off the disease should it try to enter the body.

Professor Hermon-Taylor was the first doctor to make the link between Crohn’s and MAP, which is present in between three and six per cent of pasteurised milk.
When he tested patients with Crohn’s disease for MAP, he found the same bacteria in their intestines as in animals.

Prof Hermon-Taylor is convinced the disease can largely be eradicated by immunisation.

There is no specific treatment for Crohn’s currently, but various drugs can be taken to relieve cramps and diarrhoea, including codeine.

Some patients, especially those with abscesses and infections, may need antibiotics. Other useful drugs include steroids, although long-term use can be toxic.

“Walkman” that lowers blood pressure

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A gadget which helps the user lower blood pressure without drugs, has been launched.

It looks like a CDWalkman, helps open up blood vessels that have become narrowed, causing a build-up of pressure. It works by changing and slowing breathing patterns, which lowers blood pressure.

The device is called Resperate and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The results of seven clinical trials were presented to doctors at a recent meeting of the British Hypertension Society.

The device works by picking up the breathing rate of a patient through a sensor worn on a belt round the chest.

Once the device has worked out the patient’s resting breathing rate, it creates an individual programme to guide it from, on average, 18 breaths a minute to ten, using calming music played through the headphones to encourage slower breathing.

Research has shown that just by making breathing slower and deeper, more oxygen is taken into the lungs and muscles surrounding blood vessels. If enough oxygen is not reaching these muscles they constrict, causing high blood pressure. Once the muscles relax, blood pressure is reduced.

Clinical trials of the machine revealed that ten breaths a minute brought blood pressure down to a safe level of 120/80. After three to four weeks, blood pressure should have reached a safe level. Patients then use the machine for 15 minutes three times a week to maintain this.

Resperate sends out two different-toned signals — one to tell the patient to breathe in, the other to exhale. As the exercise progresses, the tones the patient hears become longer, slowing down their breathing. Changes in lifestyle and diet are often to blame. Being overweight, eating too much salt and drinking too much alcohol are all factors

Dr William Elliott, a consultant at Rush Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, has carried out several trials with Resperate and is impressed. ‘It is as effective at controlling blood pressure as some drugs.’

ï RESPERATE costs £199 and is available in the UK from www.anhealth.co.uk”> or by calling 0870 350 1264

Acupressure helpful in backpain

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Taipei: Acupressure, an ancient Chinese massage has been found more helpful in relieving lower back pain than most other treatments, a new study has discovered.

Researchers at the Ntional Taiwan University found that nearly 90 per cent of patients felt reduced discomfort after acupressure treatment. Backpain a common problem worldwide

The Taiwan study, published in the British Medical Journal, used 129 patients with chronic lower back pain who were already attending a specialist orthopaedic clinic. They were split into two groups with half receiving acupressure and the rest conventional physical therapy. The researchers assessed the patients immediately after their course of treatment had finished and again after six months.The patients in the acupressure group were found to have less disability due to back pain than the other group.

The researchers found that acupressure resulted in an 89 per cent reduction in disability – and the benefits were still evident at six months. They also saw improvementsin leg pain and ‘pain interfering-with normal work’, with a reduction in time taken off work as a result.

Professor Tony Hsui-Hsi Chen, University’s Institute of Preventive Medicine which led the research said: ‘This study shows that acupressure is more effective in alleviating low back pain than physical therapy.

‘The effect was not only seen in the short term, but lasted for six months. We hope that this technique-can be imparted to other therapists now that its efficacy has been shown in our study, so that acupressure can be used in other populations.’

Fat midriff doubles women’s chances of gallstone surgery

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Lexington: A bulging midriff almost doubles a woman’s chances of developing gallstones and the need for surgery to remove them, finds an extensive study published in the medical magazine Gut.

In the developed world, gallstone disease is the most common abdominal illness requiring admission to hospital. And in the USA, more than 800,000 operations to remove gallstones are carried out every year. Most gallstones are nuggets of cholesterol.

The findings are based on comprehensive two yearly monitoring of more than 42,000 women in the United States, who were part of the Nurses Health Study.

The women were all aged between 39 and 66 in 1986, when the gallstone study began. None of the women had gallstones. All provided waist and hip measurements and details of their normal diet.

During the subsequent monitoring period to the year 2000, 3197 women required gallstone surgery.

After taking into account total body fat distribution as well as other risk factors for gallstone disease, women with waists of 36 inches or more were almost twice as likely to require surgery to remove gallstones as those whose waists measured 26 inches or less.

Waist to hip ratio, which divides the waist size by hip size, also boosted the risk by around 40% among women with a ratio of 0.86 compared with those whose ratio was 0.70 or less.

These results held true even if a woman was not generally overweight, as determined by body mass index.

The authors suggest that there are plausible biological explanations for a link between gallstones and the midriff bulge. The type of fat around the waist is more metabolically active than fat elsewhere on the body.

And previous research has also linked gallstones with the metabolic syndrome, a feature of which is excess abdominal fat.

Magic bullet will drain world health budgets

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Rotterdam:Treating everyone, or those at only moderate risk of cardiovascular disease, with the polypill would not save any money at all, even if the drug cost nothing to make, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The “magic bullet” could drain global health budgets, unless it is carefully targeted and very cheap to manufacture, suggest the authors.

The formulation has not been tested out on large numbers of people, and how the various constituents will interact is as yet unknown, say the authors.

But in theory, the polypill, which combines aspirin, a statin, three blood pressure lowering agents, and folic acid into one tablet, has the potential to slash the risk of coronary artery disease by 88% and stroke by 80% in those aged between 55 and 64.

To calculate potential costs of widespread treatment with the polypill, the authors looked at differing levels of risk of developing coronary artery disease in different age groups, and medical and treatment costs.

They used data from the US Framingham Heart Study, which involved over 5,000 people aged between 28 and 62, who were monitored for heart disease and stroke in two year periods for almost half a century.

And they also used data from the Framingham Offspring Study, which involved monitoring the children and spouses of those in the original study every four to eight years.

Even if the polypill cost nothing, it would not save anything at all if given to everyone, irrespective of their risks of developing cardiovascular disease, or if given to those only at moderate risk, say the authors.

Giving the polypill to everyone over the age of 60 would produce the greatest health gains, the authors say. It would prevent between 76 and 179 heart attacks, and between 11 to 33 strokes, per 1000 people in this age group.

But to be cost effective, the annual expense of the polypill would have to be no more than £208 (€302) for those aged 50 and no more than £282 (€410) for those aged 60 at high risk of coronary artery disease, say the authors.

And this cost would need to be around three times lower for those at lower risk, they add.

The authors point out that irrespective of its value, treatment with the polypill “implies the medicalisation of a large section of the population,” as well as the risk of exposing healthy people to the risk of side effects.

Doctors research use of stem cells to grow new bone

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York: Doctors in the UK are investigating how bone can be grown from baby stem cells to replace diseased joints.

At present stem cells from the umbilical cords of babies are used to treat leukaemia patients, but researchers at York University hope to find a new use for the two million units of cord blood collected every year in Europe.

Doctors already believe the process is possible but now need clinical proof, which is being funded by the EU to the tune of £1.6 million. Last year doctors in Germany replaced part of the skull of a child using stem cells taken from body fat, which appeared to turn into bone cells.

Omega 6 promotes cancer cell growth in prostate

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San Francisco: Omega-6 fatty acids, found in foods such as corn oil, resulted in the faster growth of human prostate tumors in cell culture , according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

The study which is published in January’s Cancer Research discovered that an omega-6 fatty acid known as arachidonic acid turns on a gene signaling pathway that leads directly to tumor growth.

Lead researcher Millie Hughes-Fulford, PhD, director of the Laboratory of Cell Growth at SFVAMC and professor of medicine at the University of California said it had been observed that the additin of omega 6 to the growth medium, the tumours grew twice as fast as those without it.

She said: “Investigating the reasons for this rapid growth, we discovered that the omega-6 was turning on a dozen inflammatory genes that are known to be important in cancer. We then asked what was turning on those genes, and found that omega-6 fatty acids actually turn on a signal pathway called PI3-kinase that is known to be a key player in cancer.”

Hughes-Fulford says the results are significant because of the high level of omega-6 fatty acids in the modern American diet, mostly in the form of vegetable seed oils such as corn oil – over 25 times the level of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in canola oil, fish, and green vegetables. She notes that over the last 60 years, the rate of prostate cancer in the U.S. has increased steadily along with intake of omega-6, suggesting a possible link between diet and prostate cancer.

The study results build on earlier work in which Fulford and her research team found that arachidonic acid stimulated the production of an enzyme known as cPLA-2, which in turn caused a chain of biochemical reactions that led to tumor growth. In the current paper, the researchers have “followed that biochemical cascade upstream to its source,” Hughes-Fulford says. “These fatty acids are initiating the signal pathway that begins the whole cascade.”

Hughes-Fulford and her fellow researchers also found that if they added a non-steroidal antiflammatory or a PI3K inhibitor to the growth media, interrupting the signal pathway, the genes did not get turned on and increased tumor cell growth did not take place.

Currently, Hughes-Fulford is conducting a study in which research animals are fed diets with different levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, “to see how the tumors grow in animals.”

Hughes-Fulford says that her study results have directly influenced her own diet. “I’m not a physician, and do not tell people how to eat, but I can tell you what I do in my own home,” she says. “I use only canola oil and olive oil. We do not eat deep-fried foods.”

Melatonin not effective for sleep disorders, says new report

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Edmonton: There is no evidence that melatonin is effective in treating secondary sleep disorders or preventing jet lag, finds a study published online by the British Medical Journal.

Sleep disorders are a widespread problem and place a burden on society through their negative impact on quality of life, safety, productivity, and healthcare utilisation.

Complementary and alternative therapies, such as melatonin (a hormone that is thought to play a part in controlling daily body rhythms) have been used increasingly to manage sleep disorders.

Researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada analysed trials of the effects of melatonin on people with secondary sleep disorders (sleep problems associated with medical, neurological or substance misuse) and sleep disorders arising from sleep restriction, such as jet lag or shiftwork disorder.

They found no evidence that melatonin is effective in treating secondary sleep disorders or sleep disturbance in people with jet lag or people with shiftwork disorder, say the authors. There is evidence that melatonin is safe with short term use, but further studies are needed to determine its long term safety, they conclude.

UK women have lowest life expectancy in Europe, says new report

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London: UK women have the lowest life expectancy in the European Union, according to a new report from the Office of National Statistics. But UK men are living longer than most in other European countries.

In a major report based on official statistics, the life expectancy for English men is 76.6 years, the second highest in the European Union which had an average male life expectancy of 74.8.

English women live longer than men, with a life expectancy of 80.9 years, but fare less well in comparison with the EU, where women live to 81.1 years on average. However, Britain is the second “fattest” nation in the EU, with more than a fifth of adults deemed obese, a figure second only to Greece.

Scotland has the lowest life expectancy for men (73.8 years) and women (79.1 years), and the greatest proportion of heavy smokers, a fact reflected in it also having the highest rate of lung cancer.

Wales has the lowest death rate among infants in 2003 and the highest proportion of disabled people in 2003-04.

In Northern Ireland in 2003, 17 per cent of 15-year-olds have some teeth missing due to decay. In England the figure is five per cent

Among the most worrying trends in the report, United Kingdom Health Statistics, was the level of sexually transmitted diseases, which was highest in England. The English rate of gonorrhoea infections in men was more than twice the rate for Scotland and Wales, and the English rate in women was twice the rate for Wales and four times that for Scotland.

Despite a rather poor impression of public health in Scotland, the country had the highest proportion of people taking part in high levels of physical activity, at all ages from 26 onwards.

In the UK, the most common type of health problem reported was arthritis and back pain, affecting about a third of men and women.One person in seven said they had considered suicide at some point.Anxiety and depression was suffered by seven per cent of men and 11 per cent of women.

More people will live to be 100, say experts

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London: Experts are predicting that more than a million people born in the UK and now aged 30 could live to be 100 years old and more.

Currently there are around 10,000 centenarians but this figure could grow to 1.2million by 2074. In effect this means that one in eight people could live to be 100 while thousands of others will live to be 110 or more, acccording to statistics from the UK Government’s Actuary Department.This spurt in longevity is attributed to better diet and medical care.

Improved diet and lifestyle, especially among the affluent, are also responsible. And the decline of heavy industry means that workers are far less likely to be exposed to the health risks and dangers or heavy machinery.

The increased use of cholesterollowering drugs in recent years has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Under new prescription guidance to GPs, up to one in ten adults could end up taking statins to prevent cardiovascular disease.

This could save 20,000 lives a year while some experts believe a quarter of Britons could end up taking the drugs for life.

Doctors now perform regular screening to detect diseases such as cervical cancer and the breakthrough of drugs such as herceptin to treat breast cancer are helping to keep the number of deaths down.

The eradication of many infectious diseases during the last century has had a huge impact.

Child immunisation, better sanitation and increased use of antibiotics have swept away most cases of smallpox, diphtheria and tuberculosis.

Britons are also more aware than ever of the benefits of taking regular exercise. This can help reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

Countless studies have also shown that eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables can help control cholesterol and prevent some types of cancer.

The growth in longevity would also have a big impact on the size of the UK population as a whole, with the number of people living in the country growing to 75million by 2074 based on these figures.

The population could soar even higher, to 90million, if the highest projections for fertility rates and immigration are also factored in.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last year revealed big differences across the UK. People living in Scotland and the north of England came out worse, with the lowest life expectancy for both men and women found in Glasgow. In contrast those men living in the affluent area of Kensington and Chelsea in London enjoyed the longest lifespan, at 80.8 years – 11.5 years more than in Glasgow. Women in this area also had the longest life expectancy at 85.8 years, compared with 76.4 in Glasgow.

Red meat activates DNA mutation

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Cambridge: Eating red met does raise the risk of bowel cancer, scientists at the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge.

Earlier research, byt he UK’s Medical Research Council, has already shown that eating more than n 5 1/2oz a day – the equivalent of a burger and two sausages – increases chances of getting the disease by a third.

But the new research claims to show the cause: a substance produced in the gut by the meat damaged DNA, making the cells more likely to mutate and become cancerous.

Experts have previously said that diet, smoking, inactivity and obesity can all raise the risk.

The Cambridge team looked at the diets and cancer risk of nearly 500,000 men and women from across Europe. They discovered the cancer risk increased the more red meat consumed.

In the latest study published in the Journal of Cancer Research, the scientists examined the cells of the lining of the colon in healthy people on diffierent diets and looked at how their diet affected the cell DNA.

They found that when a red meat diet was compared with a vegetarian diet, levels of DNA damage increased. The culprit appeared to be substances called N-nitrosocompounds, which are formed in the large bowel after eating red meat.

Some of the compounds are thought to combine with DNA and destabilise it, making it more likely to undergo the harmful changes or mutations that can lead to cancer.

Menopause causes memory loss, doctors reveal

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Boston: The menopause does cause memory loss, doctors at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York have discovered.

Research shows that the stress of women’s lives combined with a drop in the hormone oestrogen makes them struggle to learn information in the way they did when they were younger.

Scientists say many menopausal women have difficulty recalling facts or names, causing them to worry that their memories are fading.

Doctors at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York said they had noticed more such women attending clinics fearing they may be developing early Alzheimer’s disease. But it was discovered that the women who complained of forgetfulness were actually simply having problems learning new information.

They found that contrary to what many of the participants feared, there was no evidence that the women had worse memory problems than normal.

In fact, they had just never had the time to learn things properly in the first place. Although all were perfectly capable of learning new facts, for some reason they did not fully absorb them.

The researchers said the problem was similar to when a doctor tells a patient something serious may be wrong and provides lots of detailed information. Later the patient can often barely remember what was said to them.

The findings could help menopausal women to discover new ways to improve their recall powers. The researchers have called for larger studies to confirm their findings.

Drugs for elderly may cause mental decline

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Montpellier: A family of drugs, commonly used to treat diseases in the elderly, may be responsible for causing mental impairment.

Researchers at the Hôpital La Colombière, Montpellier, France say that anticholinergic drugs, used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, urinary incontinence, and Parkinson’s disease, say doctors treating the elderly should be aware of their findings.

They interviewed 372 elderly people without dementia about current and past illnesses and drug use. Cognitive performance was assessed and participants were monitored for up to eight years. The findings are published in the British Medical Journal on line.

About 10% of the people in the sample took anticholinergic drugs over an extended period. Drug users showed poorer cognitive performance compared with non-users and 80% met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment compared with 35% of non-users. However, drug users were not at increased risk of developing dementia.

Even after taking account of other known risk factors for cognitive impairment, anticholinergic drugs remained the most highly significant predictor of this condition, say the authors.

Given the aim of identifying mild cognitive impairment is the early treatment of dementia, people with mild cognitive impairment due to anticholinergic drugs could be in the absurd situation of receiving pro-cholinergic drugs to counteract the effects of anticholinergic agents, say the authors.

They suggest doctors assess current use of anticholinergic drugs in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment before considering treatment for dementia.

Click here to view full paper: press.psrings.co.uk

A few extra pounds make you look youthful

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Copenhagen: A little extra weight can make you look up to seven years younger, according to researchers in Denmark.

In addition a happy family life and plenty of money are also contribute to better ageing, says a study that examined the effects of lifestyle, medical history and diet on the way that men and women age.

The duty by scientists at the University of Southern, also discovered that a happy marriage can bring special benefits for a woman – making her look almost two years younger by the time she reaches middle age. Marital harmony can make men, in turn look up to a year younger. When there are children, fathers tend to look a year younger.

Having children has no perceived effect on a woman’s looks – possibly because women are more likely to take charge of the childcare – and the effects disappear in families with more than four children.

Belonging to a higher social class – with both looking up to four years younger than their true age.

Professor Kaare Christensen, lead author from the University of Southern Denmark, said the study revealed that high social status, low levels of depression and marriage were linked with a more youthful appearance.

The study, being published in Ae and Ageing, asked a group of nurses to guess the ages of 1,826 identical and non-identical twins, all in their seventies, after looking at photographs of their faces.

Scientists then compared the average age estimates with environmental factors such as marital status, parenthood, class and lifestyle choices.

They concluded that while looking young is an indicator of good health, looking old for one’s age is conversely associated with increased mortality.

Heavy drinking was found to put a year on the faces of both sexes along with chronic asthma, diabetes and regularly taking painkillers. Over-exposure to the sun was seen to add 1.3 years to a woman’s perceived age while depression made women look 3.9 years older and men 2.4 years older. Though 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years was found to add only a year of extra wrinkles to men and half that to women.

Contrary to popular expectation, however, putting on weight with age was found to have a positive effect on keeping a youthful appearance.

For men, adding two points to their body mass index can take a year off their age while women can benefit from the same effect by adding seven points to their BMI.

These findings support previous studies which show that non-genetic factors account for approximately 40 per cent of the variations in a person’s perceived age.

Professor Christensen added: ‘Our study confirms previous findings of a negative influence of sun exposure, smoking and a low BMI index on facial ageing.

‘It is a lot more dangerous looking one year older than being one year older.

‘If you are not depressed, not a smoker and not too skinny, you are basically doing well.’ Combining the various factors can explain why some people, for example those in their forties, can look substantially younger than their peers.

According to the study, a married woman with a high social status, who has not spent a lot of time in the sun, could look at least seven years younger than a woman who is single, of a low social class and has spent excessive time soaking up harmful rays.

New sweetner with health benefits launches in UK

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London: Perfect Sweet announces the launch of a new, completely natural, low carb, low GI sweetener with a host of health benefits, making it perfect for dieters, diabetics, children, dental patients, mums-to-be and women at high risk of osteoporosis – as well as anyone concerned about oral health and general well-being.

A deliciously sweet alternative to sugar for everyday use, Perfect Sweet is derived entirely from xylitol, a naturally occurring substance found in strawberries, plums and pears. Whilst it looks and tastes just as good as sugar, it offers a much healthier alternative.

Because xylitol releases its energy, much slower than any other sugar or sweetener, people who eat it in the place of sugar feel fuller for longer and are less likely to snack. This makes Perfect Sweet deal for diabetics or others for those on low GI diets who need to keep their blood sugar stable.

Xylitol contains 40% fewer calories than conventional sugar and has a GI (Glycemic Index) count of just seven, compared to conventional sugar (which has a GI of 49). That means you would have to eat up to seven times as much Perfect Sweet to have the same effect on your blood sugar – or your hips. For those on a low carb diet, xylitol makes an ideal companion too, with it having 75% fewer available carbohydrates than sugar.

Perfect Sweet has a number of other surprising health benefits, which makes it much more than just another alternative to sugar. Added to a range of food and drinks such as tea, coffee, smoothies, cereals, fruit puddings or snacks, Perfect Sweet can turn everyday drinks and food into delicious health products.

“We all know the consequences of our addiction to sugar: weight gain, mood swings, skin problems, diabetes, oral cavities and even infections such as overgrowth of Candida Albicans, which is though to lead to thrush and many other afflictions,” says Edward Baylis at Perfect Sweet. “But until now there just hasn’t been a satisfactory, non-chemical alternative to sugar. The most exciting thing about Perfect Sweet is that for the first time we have a 100% natural, completely healthy product, that is not only as delicious as the stuff we’re used to, but actually delivers a host of positive health benefits. This is the kind of product parents will be encouraging their kids to eat!”

Priced at £2.69 for a 225g pack, Perfect Sweet is available in selected Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Holland and Barrett and Waitrose stores. For more information www.perfectsweet.co.uk

More benefits of Perfect Sweet

Oral Health
One of the major discoveries in respect to xylitol was the discoveryfinding that when it iwas broken down in the mouth and stomach it produces an alkaline environment, rather than an acidic one , which like like sugar does. This means thatIn this alkaline environment the bacteria that cause tooth decay can’t survive and decay is prevented. Thee alkaline environment which is created also favours calcium and mineral absorption so enamel decay is even seen to be reversed.

Osteoporosis
Increased calcium absorption in the stomach has led to studies observing a much improved bone density (stronger bones) when using xylitol regularly. This could be a potentially massive be a huge help for those living with conditions such as osteoporosis.

Bacterial and Yeast Infections
The killing of bacteria with xylitol, has further led to the discovery that ear infections, and other bacterial and yeast infections (such as thrush), can be prevented when using it. There has been particular interest in the use of xylitol to help prevent ear infections in young children.