In Vino Veritas?

Happy Hump Day!

While we may not be able to make you laugh quite as much as the GEICO camel, we do bring you news that should at least make you smile.

A new Spanish study suggests that drinking wine might help you avoid depression.

Although drinking a lot of wine or other alcohol may be a sign of depression or other mental health problems, alcohol in moderation may benefit mental health according to the study authors.

“One drink a day, preferentially wine, may help prevent depression,” said lead researcher Dr. Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, chair of the department of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Navarra, in Pamplona.

Researchers followed more than 5,500 light-to-moderate drinkers, aged between 55 and 80 for up to seven years.  None of the individuals had suffered from depression or had alcohol-related problems at the start of the study. Over seven years, with medical exams, interviews with dietitians and questionnaires, the researchers kept tabs on participants’ mental health and lifestyle.  Wine was the most popular drink and participants who drank two to seven glasses a week were the least likely to suffer from depression, compared to nondrinkers. These findings remained significant even after the researchers took factors such as smoking, diet and marriage into account.

But before you start reaching for the corkscrew, we need to warn you that not all experts agree with the findings and even the research team, only saw benefit in moderate drinkers.

Martinez-Gonzalez thinks the apparent benefit of wine in preventing depression may work the same way that moderate drinking helps prevent heart disease.

“Depression and heart disease seem to share some common mechanisms because they share many similar protective factors and risk factors,” he said. However, he added that depression prevention is not a reason to start drinking.

“If you are not a drinker, please don’t start drinking,” he said. “If you drink alcohol, please keep it in the range of one or less drinks a day and consider drinking wine instead of other alcoholic beverages.”

Tony Tang, an adjunct psychology professor at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., said the new research “is consistent with other studies suggesting modest health benefits of very modest drinking.”

But, Tang said other factors may be at work in the potential connection between wine and depression. He noted that compared to nondrinkers, those in the Spanish study who drank a moderate amount of wine were more likely to be married men who were also physically active.  Being single or divorced, living alone and being sedentary are well-established risk factors of depression. Thus, he suggests, the correlation between modest drinking and depression is a coincidence caused by these other known factors.

“An adequate social life is the most important factor we know that protects people from depression,” Tang said. “Perhaps not drinking is a sign of serious social isolation in Spain while drinking a glass of wine a day is simply a sign of having a normal social life.”

Wine with friends anyone?

Cheers!

Ho Ho Ho: health hazards for Santa

After weeks of harried holiday shopping, when the stores finally close on the evening of December 24, it will be a welcome reprieve from the madness. Families and friends gather together and enjoy a relaxing day or two of rest.

But for one man, the real work is just beginning. That’s right – Santa Claus is coming to town!

And while he spends most of the year enjoying a flexible work schedule, monitoring naughty-and-nice behaviors around the world and occasionally checking in on his elves and reindeer, things are about to get frantic for Old Nick.

And to be honest, this year we’re a little concerned about his health.  That belly fat!  The all-nighter he’s about to pull!  All those cookies!

He may know when you are sleeping, but the only way for Santa to get the job done is to stay up all night on December – and that can lead to some serious health concerns.
Studies have suggested that drowsy driving is as dangerous as drunk driving.  Even if he manages to get Rudolf and his friends safely parked on the rooftops, sleep deprivation could cause his judgment to become fuzzier, leading to the wrong presents traveling down the wrong chimneys.
What’s worse is that sleep loss has a cumulative effect. So while people in the Southern hemisphere might do OK, those of us in Northern climes, and especially those on the West Coast aren’t so lucky. Chronic sleep deprivation could mean he could fly over some houses altogether.

But even if we manage to keep him awake with coffee and Red Bull rather than the usual glass of milk, we’ve got to change Santa’s sack. By carrying something that weighs more than 10% of his body weight, one shoulder is going to end up taking on most of the burden, which could lead to back strains, sprains and spasms.
If you’re thinking of getting Santa a gift this season maybe you could consider a backpack, or better still, a rolling suitcase.

That’s not to say Santa doesn’t need the exercise of his Christmas Eve jaunt. Like 70% of adult men in the US, he is severely overweight. The health risks linked to obesity include Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis.

With his giant waist comes the risk of belly fat associated problems such as insulin resistance, high triglycerides, heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

Then there’s that beard to worry about. After a month or so of letting thousands upon thousands of kids sit on your lap at the mall, we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s harboring some germs in his whiskers.  So if Santa touches his beard followed by his eyes, ears or mouth, he’s pretty much bound to catch something, especially in the midst of this cold and flu season.

We suggest leaving some hand sanitizer next to the milk and cookies this year to give him a fighting chance.

And finally we’re worried about that thin Red Suit. While we’ll give Santa props for covering his head with a hat, traveling outside all night in December in a red velvet suit and a touch of faux fur seems ill advised. In addition to the hat, he should probably throw on a scarf or knit mask, mittens, thermals and a water-resistant coat to ward off hypothermia.

So whether you’ve been naughty or nice, there’s still time to give some thought to Santa’s Health, as well as your own this Christmas season.

Sleeping Your Way to Success

As the fall semester winds down at colleges and universities, countless students will doubtless be pulling all-night study sessions to prepare for upcoming exams. Fueled by Red Bull, Monster energy drinks, or sheer fear of failure, last minute cramming will be going on in dorm rooms, libraries around the world.

Ironically, as it turns out, the loss of sleep during these all-nighters could actually work against students performing well.

Dr. Philip Alapat, medical director of the Harris Health Sleep Disorders Center, and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, recommends that students study throughout the semester instead, and get at least 8 hours of sleep the night before exams.

“Memory recall and ability to maintain concentration are much improved when an individual is rested,” he says. “By preparing early and being able to better recall what you have studied, your ability to perform well on exams is increased.”

College-aged students ideally should get 8-9 hours of sleep a night. Truth is, most students get much less.

“Any prolonged sleep deprivation will affect your mood, energy level and ability to focus, concentrate and learn, which directly affects your academic performance,” Alapat adds.

All-nighters, especially when coupled with caffeinated beverages lead to a risk for developing insomnia and sleep disorders, including apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Alapat’s recommendations:

• Get 8-9 hours of sleep nightly (especially before final exams)
• Try to study during periods of optimal brain function (usually around 6-8 p.m.)
• Avoid studying in early afternoons, usually the time of least alertness
•  Don’t overuse caffeinated drinks
• Recognize that chronic sleep deprivation may contribute to development of long-term diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease

Good advice!  Excuse me while I go to bed – I have an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) exam in the morning!

Apples, Pears & Risk of Death

Are you an apple or a pear? Could your big belly shorten your life?

Conventional wisdom tells us that the shape of our body and where we store fat can drastically alter our health outlook. For example, apple shapes – people who carry their weight around their middles – have long been thought to have a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes, when compared to the general population. But recent research suggests that this risk might be overstated and that excess fat anywhere on the body raises disease risk equally.

Body mass index (BMI), the most commonly accepted measure of obesity, has long been criticized because it doesn’t take into account body composition. Because it only uses height and weight, it can classify muscular people as overweight or obese.

So a father-son team of researchers from New York have come up a new tool – the A Body Shape Index (ABSI).

This formula takes into account waist circumference (WC), BMI, and height.

In a study of  more than 14,000 adults, above average ABSIs correlated with a higher risk of premature death — even when adjusted for risk factors like smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol. Regardless of age, gender, BMI, and ethnicity, elevated death rates were found for both high and low BMIs and WCs.  This led the researchers to conclude that both measures are inaccurate for predicting premature death risk.

“Measuring body dimensions is straightforward compared to other most medical tests, but it’s been challenging to link these with health,” says researcher Nir Krakauer, assistant professor in the department of civil engineering at the City College of New York.

The bottom line of all this?  It’s not just belly fat that can kill you, excess pounds anywhere can have an adverse effect on health.

However, before you throw in the towel or start ordering your coffin, other studies suggest you shouldn’t worry if have a bit of junk in the trunk!  According to new research from Oxford University, fat in the thighs and buttocks might actually help protect you from metabolic disease and a Danish study even found that people with thin thighs have a greater risk of premature death.

What’s your body shape, and how do you feel about it? We look forward to hearing from you.

Simple, Fast, and Beautiful

Take a good look at the image to the left.  Could it be the latest high tech cardio machine from a swanky new-age gym, a computerized gold club that provides instant feedback on your swing or perhaps a revolutionary whole-house Bluetooth speaker system?

No, no and no!

What you are looking at, ladies and gentlemen, is a revolutionary new device for the treatment of high blood pressure.  Yes, that’s right. Not monitoring, but treatment.

The Vessix Vascular V2 Renal Denervation System™  is the result of a collaboration between two California based companies –  Vessix Vascular, Inc., a pre-revenue stage medical technology company, and product innovation consultancy Karten Design.

This new technology has the potential to help the 68 million (one in three) adults in the United States who suffer from hypertension — a condition that is more common than cancer, diabetes, and coronary artery disease combined.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease and was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death for more than 347,000 Americans in 2008.

In 2010, high blood pressure cost the United States $93.5 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work

Today, anti-hypertensive drugs are the primary treatment for hypertension. But despite the widespread use of drugs, only about half of hypertensive patients around the world are well controlled, even when multiple medications are taken at optimal dosages.

This new device could potentially change all that.

In as little as 30 seconds per artery, the Vessix V2 System performs a one-time minimally invasive catheter-based percutaneous procedure that has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure.
Using a short blast of radiofrequency (RF) energy to disable the sympathetic nerves surrounding the arteries leading to the kidneys, in a procedure called renal denervation.

TV’s  Dr. Mehmet Oz has called  this treatment “a profound game changer.”

Hyperactivity of the renal nerves leads to uncontrolled high blood pressure, also called resistant hypertension. According to the American Heart Association, a 5 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure results in a 14% decrease in stroke, a 9% decrease in heart disease, and a 7% decrease in overall mortality. In clinical studies, renal denervation has shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by as much as 20%.

Vessix’s patented V2 Catheter delivers precise temperature-controlled energy to both renal arteries in 60 seconds, while the only other competitively marketed Renal Denervation system takes 50-60 minutes. The rapidity of the V2’s treatment promises to reduce patient discomfort as well as exposure to radiation for both the patient and the interventional cardiologist performing the procedure.

“I wanted a design that immediately communicates that there’s something new and exciting going on — even before I explain how the product works,” said Vessix CEO Raymond Cohen. “The goal was to have the product look faster, sexier, and more advanced than any other piece of equipment found in the hospital.”

To ensure the system’s design supports the physician’s natural workflow in the catherization lab, Karten Design worked with Vessix during the early phases of product definition, visiting hospital cath labs and interviewing doctors to determine the system’s ideal usage. Karten Design researchers and designers learned about the human factors surrounding a catheter-based procedure, including visibility, access, and sterility.

Vessix began a 64-patient human clinical in February in Europe. The first patient treated was 39 years old with pre-treatment blood pressure readings of 174/114 despite taking four anti-hypertensive medications. The second patient was 44 years old with a blood pressure of 168/106 despite taking six anti-hypertensive medications. The 10 center study will follow patients for 24 months following their renal denervation procedure.

Although the system has already received a CE Mark approval for the treatment of hypertension, it is not yet available in the US.

Assuming all goes well with the clinical studies, we look forward to the day it is.

Sweet Protection Against Parkinson’s Disease

New research shows men and women who regularly eat berries may have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.  Men may further lower their risk by regularly eating apples, oranges and other sources rich in dietary flavonoids.

The study which was supported by the National Institutes of Health involved 49,281 men and 80,336 women. Researchers gave participants questionnaires and used a database to calculate intake amount of flavonoids. They then analyzed the association between flavonoid intakes and risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. They also analyzed consumption of five major sources of foods rich in flavonoids: tea, berries, apples, red wine and oranges or orange juice. The participants were followed for 20 to 22 years.

During that time, 805 people developed Parkinson’s disease. In men, the top 20% who consumed the most flavonoids were about 40% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than the bottom 20% of male participants who consumed the least amount of flavonoids.

In women, there was no relationship between overall flavonoid consumption and developing Parkinson’s disease. However, when sub-classes of flavonoids were examined, regular consumption of anthocyanins, which are mainly obtained from berries, were found to be associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease in both men and women.

“This is the first study in humans to examine the association between flavonoids and risk of developing Parkinson’s disease,” said study author Xiang Gao, MD, PhD, with the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Fruit consumption has also been related to health benefits in a whole range of conditions including cancer, stroke, heart disease, diverticulosis, hypertension, cataracts, diabetes, asthma, and bronchitis.

Do you have any fruity stories to share?  SRxA’s Word on Health would love to hear from you.

Brushing up on Heart Disease

According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, adults who brush their teeth less than once a day face an increased risk for heart disease.

Nearly 12,000 Scottish adults answered questions about oral hygiene and then were followed for 8 years. During that time, there were 555 cardiovascular disease events, including 170 deaths.

After adjustment for confounders such as concomitant illness, sex, age, weight, smoking and physical exercise, participants who brushed their teeth less than once a day were 70% more likely to suffer cardiovascular disease than those who brushed twice daily. Poor oral hygiene was linked to elevated levels of C-reactive protein and other inflammatory biomarkers.

The authors say their findings suggest “a possible role of poor oral hygiene in the risk of cardiovascular disease via systemic inflammation,” and they stress the importance of counseling patients on the benefits of good oral health.

These results confirm findings from several observational epidemiological studies that showed that poor periodontal health status is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Word on Health wonders, have you brushed today?