Archive for September 20th, 2005
September 7, 2005
(The New York Times News Service) — Folic acid fortification of foods, mandated since 1998 in the United States, continues to help reduce the incidence of severe birth defects such as spina bifida, researchers report.
The study, which appears in the September issue of Pediatrics, included a look at the effects of the B vitamin on children born to black and Hispanic women.
“We wanted to see if all racial and ethnic groups are having decreases, or is it only, for example, in one group?” explained study co-author Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a clinical geneticist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Her team analyzed data from 21 population-based birth defect surveillance systems. They examined trends in neural tube defects — serious malformations such as spina bifida, a leading cause of childhood paralysis, and anencephaly, a condition in which parts of the brain and skull cap are missing. Both can be prevented through maternal intake during pregnancy of folate, which is thought to be important to embryonic development.
Looking at the years 1995 to 2002, the team divided births into pre-fortification, optional- and mandatory-fortification periods, and then evaluated associations between maternal folate levels and birth defects.
The study included data on 4,468 cases of spina bifida and 2,625 cases of anencephaly.
The CDC team concluded that folic acid fortification accounted for a 36 percent decline in the birth defects among the Hispanic population, and 34 percent in the non-Hispanic white population.
The decline among blacks was not significant.
Before fortification, about 4,000 pregnancies annually were affected by neural tube defects, according to the March of Dimes.
Now about 1,000 fewer babies a year develop one of these conditions.
But some experts believe the fortification level, while helpful, needs to be set higher. In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Godfrey Oakley Jr. of the CDC says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should at least double the amount of folic acid required in enriched grain foods, currently set at 140 micrograms per 100 grams of grains.
The March of Dimes is also calling for higher fortification levels, says Dr. Jennifer Howse, president of the organization. She called the decline found in the Rasmussen study “very significant,” but thinks higher levels of fortification are needed.
In a note of caution, however, Dr. Tsunenobu Tamura, author of a second Pediatrics study on folate status and child development, says more study is needed before that recommendation should be enacted.
“We should be extremely careful in increasing the fortification level, because we do not know the consequences of high-dose fortification,” says Tamura, a professor of nutrition science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
In his study, Tamura’s team evaluated the maternal blood folate levels of black women at 19, 26 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. They then evaluated the neurological development of 355 of the women’s children at 5 years of age using memory, motor skills and other tests.
“The mothers’ folate nutritional status during pregnancy does not appear to affect psychomotor development of the children at 5 years of age,” he says.
Still, he says, he believes it’s crucial that women get adequate folate during pregnancy.
Women of childbearing age are advised to take in 400 micrograms a day of folate, which can be obtained through vitamin pills or foods such as leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times News Service. All rights reserved.
Taken From www.intelihealth.com
September 20th, 2005
September 12, 2005
CHICAGO (American Medical Association) — Postmenopausal women who consumed high daily levels of soy protein had reduced risk of bone fracture, according to a study in the September 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Women experience accelerated bone loss at a rate of three to five percent per year for about five to seven years after menopause, putting them at a high risk for bone fracture, according to background information in the article.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and new clinical guidelines advise against the use of hormone therapy as a first-line treatment for the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and emphasize alternatives including exercise and increasing intake of calcium and vitamin D. Growing evidence suggests a potential role for soy in preventing postmenopausal bone loss.
Xianglan Zhang, M.D., M.P.H., from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, and colleagues examined the relationship between soy food consumption and bone fractures in 24,403 postmenopausal women.
The women were part of the Shanghai Women’s Health Study, a study of approximately 75,000 Chinese women aged 40 to 70 years, conducted between March 1997 and May 2000.
Participants’ usual dietary intake was assessed once at the beginning of the study and then during follow-up, approximately two to three years later. Average age was 60 years.
The researchers found that soy consumption may reduce the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women, especially among those in the early years following menopause.
During an average follow-up of four and a half years, 1,770 fractures were reported. The median (middle value) daily intakes of soy protein and soy isoflavones (estrogen-like plant chemicals) were 8.5 grams and 38 micrograms, respectively.
Participants were divided into five categories, according to their soy intake, with the lowest intake group consuming less than 4.98 grams of soy per day, and the highest group consuming 13.27 grams or more of soy per day.
Those in the highest soy protein intake group had a 37 percent reduced relative risk for fracture compared to the lowest intake group. Women in the highest soy isoflavone group had a 35 percent reduced relative risk for fracture compared to the lowest isoflavone group.
“In this prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women, we found that soy food consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of fracture, particularly among women in the early years following menopause,” the researchers write.
“The potential impact of timing on the skeletal effects of soy needs to be further addressed in future studies.”
Taken From www.intelihealth.com
September 20th, 2005
September 15, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) — Store-bought swordfish contained mercury levels above the legal limit in a study released Thursday by environmental groups.
A University of North Carolina Lab found elevated mercury concentrations in 24 swordfish samples from supermarket chains including Safeway, Shaws, Albertsons and Whole Foods.
Groups that paid for the analysis want supermarkets to post signs warning shoppers of health risks from mercury, and they want the government to increase its testing.
“Americans have a right to know what’s in their food, and posting warning signs in grocery stores where these fish are sold is a simple, commonsense solution that fulfills that right,” said Jackie Savitz of the advocacy group Oceana.
The federal government advises pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children to avoid fish with high levels of mercury — shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish. Elevated mercury levels have been linked to learning disabilities and developmental delays in children and to heart, nervous system and kidney damage in adults.
A supermarket industry group said it was not surprised by the survey, because swordfish and tuna are known to have higher levels of mercury. Many stores already offer brochures or have signs, the group said.
“The issue of asking for supermarkets to provide information at the store level is something companies are either engaged in doing or in the process of doing,” said Karen Brown, senior vice president of the Food Marketing Institute. “Certainly, we would support that. We also would not be opposed to increased testing by FDA.”
Average levels were 1.1 parts per million, just over the government’s limit of 1.0 ppm. The Food and Drug Administration can take legal action to remove a product from the market if mercury levels exceed that limit. Two samples, from Maine and Rhode Island, contained double the federal limit for mercury.
Traces of mercury are found in nearly all fish and shellfish. Released through industrial pollution, mercury falls and accumulates in streams and oceans as methylmercury. Methylmercury builds up in fish and shellfish as they feed, in some types more than others.
However, eating fish also has widely acknowledged health benefits. The American Heart Association advises people to eat fish at least twice a week.
FDA and EPA advise even at-risk people to eat up to 12 ounces — about two meals a week — of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, such as shrimp, salmon, pollock, catfish and canned light tuna. FDA says to limit albacore, or “white,” tuna to one meal per week because it contains higher levels of mercury.
Of 31 tuna steaks sampled, mercury levels averaged 0.33 ppm, a level comparable to that of canned albacore tuna.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Taken from: www.intelihealth.com
September 20th, 2005
We have added a new category to nutritionguides.net: “Nutrition News”. This section will present the latest research and discoveries about the food you eat and its effect on your health to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy the section and be up-to-date.
September 20th, 2005