Posting suspended

After repeating almost daily  for 8 years some version of the simple truth that correlation is not causation, I have had enough.   I expect to be posting no more here.

The extensive sidebar here should however continue to provide a convenient antidote to the pervasive silliness that is most medical research.

Changing dietary "wisdom"

Cut sugar intake by half, eat seven or nine portions of fruit and vegetables a day rather than five, avoid protein, shun low-fat foods – these are just some of the often conflicting dietary tips we have received this year as experts seek to reiterate that what we eat has a direct effect on our health.

But with a growing list of things that we should supposedly avoid at mealtimes, it might be easier to ask: What SHOULD we be consuming?

For those looking to the Government for help, there is currently little resolution. A generation of Britons has grown up looking to the NHS eatwell plate – with its five segments representing different food groups – as a guide to what a healthy diet should look like.



But almost two decades after the plate was created, experts – including those like Dr Mike Rayner who first came up with the idea – say it  is time to start again. The recommendations are based on outdated nutritional data, and worse, are encouraging poor habits, they say.

So with the help of leading dietary experts, we have now given the plate a complete overhaul, based  on the latest scientific evidence. What is on it – and what is not – may surprise you.



The main problem with the current plate, created in 1995, is the inclusion of foods now known to be detrimental to health if consumed regularly.

Dr Rayner says: ‘On it is  a can of cola, which might suggest we’re encouraging people to drink sugary soda, just like we’re encouraging them to eat fruit and vegetables which are also depicted.’

Katharine Jenner, a registered nutritionist and lecturer at Bart’s Health NHS Trust in London, agrees.

‘With all we know about the detrimental effects of added sugar in our diet, it is ludicrous that we should still be showing a custard tart on the plate as an essential part of our diet. If anything, foods like this should come with a big warning sign.

‘Likewise, when a growing body of evidence is linking salty and fatty processed foods with heart problems – the biggest causes of death in the UK – if the plate is to have any place in educating the nation, it should adopt bold, clear advice about what we should be eating only occasionally rather than suggest it is part of a healthy balanced diet.’

The original plate was based on evidence of how diet could reduce the risk from cardiovascular disease.

Scientists looked at what the average Briton was eating and then calculated how much this would need to change to lower the risk of stroke and heart attack – the nation’s biggest killer.

And there has been some success: according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, over the past 20 years our intake of saturated fat, added sugar and salt is down.

The survey, based on self-reporting, also shows the average adult now eats about four portions of fruit and veg a day too – up by about  half a portion in a decade and just short of the five-a-day target set  by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2003.

SOURCE






Bottle of wine a day 'is not bad for you': Leading scientist also claims those who exceed recommended dose could live longer than teetotallers

If you like to unwind with a glass of wine, then this might be the news you’ve been waiting for. Because according to a leading scientist, drinking just over a bottle a day won’t harm your health.

Dr Kari Poikolainen, who used to work for the World Health Organisation as an alcohol expert, examined decades of research into its effects. Men are currently meant to have no more than four units a day but women are supposed to have three units – around the equivalent of a large glass of wine.

A bottle of wine has ten units. But Dr Poikolainen believes drinking only becomes harmful when people consume more than around 13 units a day.

He also claimed that people who exceed the recommended limit could live longer than teetotallers.

Dr Poikolainen said: ‘The weight of the evidence shows moderate drinking is better than abstaining and heavy drinking is worse than abstaining – however the moderate amounts can be higher than the guidelines say.’

But Julia Manning, from think-tank 2020Health, said: ‘This is an unhelpful contribution to the debate. It makes grand claims which we don’t see evidence for.’ She added: ‘Alcohol is a toxin, the risks outweigh the benefits.’

SOURCE

Pregnant women who take SSRI antidepressants are three times more likely to have a child with autism

This is just correlational stuff.  The effects could be due to the underlying illnesses only

Mothers-to-be who take antidepressants have an increased risk of having a child with autism, a study has found.

U.S. researchers say women who took commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs - were three times more likely to have a baby boy with autism or developmental delays.

The effect of  the drugs, prescribed for depression, anxiety and other disorders, is particularity pronounced during the third trimester, they say.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public looked at nearly 1,000 mothers and their babies.

The study, published  online in the journal Pediatrics, looked at data from mother-child pairs in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study.

The researchers divided the data up into three groups - children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), those with developmental delays and those with typical development.

All the children were aged between two to five and of them, 82  per cent of those with autism were boys,66 per cent with developmental delay were boys, as were 86 per cent of those with typical development.

While the study included girls, the substantially stronger effect in boys alone suggests they may be much more susceptible for the effects of SSRIs in the womb, the researchers concluded.

'We found prenatal SSRI exposure was nearly three times as likely in boys with autism relative to typical development, with the greatest risk when exposure took place during the first trimester,' said study author Li-Ching Lee.

'SSRI was also elevated among boys with developmental delay, with the strongest exposure effect in the third trimester.'

The 'happy' hormone serotonin is critical to early brain development, so the researchers suggest exposure during pregnancy to anything that influences serotonin levels can have potential effect on birth and developmental outcomes.

With diagnoses of autism on the rise, they suggest increased use of SSRIs in recent years may be contributing to this.

Commenting on the study, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health at UC Davis, said: 'This study provides further evidence that in some children, prenatal exposure to SSRIs may influence their risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder.

'This research also highlights the challenge for women and their physicians to balance the risks versus the benefits of taking these medications, given that a mother's underlying mental-health conditions also may pose a risk, both to herself and her child.'

SOURCE





Super tea that boosts your love life: Scientists claim to have found aphrodisiac properties in Himalayan plant (?)

The claims for it would seem to be mostly hearsay

If you want to improve your health while giving your sex life a boost, try a cup of moringa tea with your breakfast.

Moringa, or ‘miracle tree’, is being hailed as a superfood that not only increases energy levels and boosts the immune system, but can also be an aphrodisiac.

Native to North Africa and the Himalayan mountains in northwestern India, the plant has traditionally been used to boost sexual desire and to treat male sexual disorders.

A recent study in the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences found that it enhanced sexual behaviour in rats. It’s also known to contain chemical compounds called saponins which have been shown in other studies to support libido and levels of the sex hormone testosterone.

Gram for gram, moringa has seven times the vitamin C found in oranges, four times the calcium of milk, four times the vitamin A of carrots, three times the potassium of bananas and three times the iron of spinach. Its tiny leaves are also high in protein, with twice the amount found in yoghurt.

The plant, which can be taken as a tea, or in tablet, powder or oil format, is said to help the body recover after exercise, and is also rich in zeatin, a plant hormone which has an anti-ageing effect on skin cells.

Nutritionist Daniel Herman, founder of the Bio-Synergy nutrition brand, said: ‘Moringa has a number of different benefits for general wellbeing.

‘It’s an anti-inflammatory – if you’ve just done the London Marathon, for example, it’s a great product to take for niggles – and some studies suggest it can regulate blood sugar levels.

‘It can also boost the immune system – it’s a rich source of antioxidants like Vitamin A and C, which can fight free radicals.

‘The aphrodisiac effect might be because it improves blood flow, which can certainly help men.’

Lorna Driver-Davies, a nutritionist for health product firm NutriCentre, said: ‘Moringa looks to be an exciting new food.

‘Good scientific research has shown it has antioxidant effects; it may work as an anti-inflammatory and may be used for liver support.’

It is thought to have been used by the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians and is recommended for 300 health conditions in traditional ayurvedic medicine.

Mr Herman added: ‘Moringa has been around for years but there is suddenly a lot of interest in this from the scientific community.’

SOURCE

Food for thought in fad diets

Very interesting point below that most proposed diets have a lot in common  -- a large degree of "consensus".  Consensus is not science however and as far as I can see the consensus is blatantly wrong.  They all say, for instance that "processed" food must be avoided:  ALL processing.  Cooking is processing so should we all eat our food raw?  There may indeed be some forms of deleterious processing but which ones?  The discussion has not even begun about processing.  So how can it be sweepingly condemned?

It turns out that there is good food for thought behind many so-called fad diets. In addition to this they are not as different as first appearances suggest.

A new paper reviewing various food philosophies from Paleo to Mediterranean, low-GI to vegetarian, says they essentially follow the same underlying principles.

"Claims for the established superiority of any one specific diet over others are exaggerated," say the paper's authors, Yale medical researchers David Katz and Samuel Meller. "The weight of evidence strongly supports a theme of healthful eating while allowing for variations on that theme.

"A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention and is consistent with the salient components of seemingly distinct dietary approaches."

Dr Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet, agrees.

"The message is stick to healthy foods and stay away from processed foods," says Cordain, a newly retired professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University. "Whether you want to call it Mediterranean, Japanese or Paleo, that should be the message."

It is on this basis that Cordain rejects Paleo's wooden spoon for being the worst of 32 diets according to a US News and World survey.

The diet, which advocates eating as our ancestors did pre-processed foods and pre-agriculture therefore avoiding dairy and wholegrains as well as sugar and refined foods, was criticised for being impractical.

"Duplicating such a regimen in modern times would be difficult," argue the experts in the panel of judges.

"To clarify, that isn't a science paper," counters Cordain, who was in Australia last week to speak at the BioCeuticals Research Symposium. "It's ill-informed and not based on data but opinion."

He believes that those who consider Paleo a poor diet choice do so based on multiple misconceptions.

"It's not saying let's all be hunter-gatherers in the 21st century," says Cordain, "but we can make intelligent food choices ... it's about 'let's start eating real, living, healthy foods' ...

"As soon as you say food groups are eliminated, there's a knee-jerk response that it's nutrient-deficient. Let's let science be the judge."

Based on the 13 vitamins and minerals most lacking in the US diet, Cordain argues that eliminating certain food groups in this instance, enriches rather than depletes the diet.

"Seventy per cent of calories in the US diet come from four food groups: refined sugars, refined grains, refined vegetable oils and refined dairy," he says. "By making the suggestion that we get those out of our diet [to improve our health], that's really the message."

Dietitians argue that dairy and wholegrains add nutrients to our diets, but Cordain believes they are more about comfort than benefit.

"If you want to eat them, fine, but you're better off eating a bowl of broccoli than a slice of bread," he says. "Humans don't have to eat wheat, but it's in our comfort foods ... your mum didn't bring you salmon at your birthday party when you were a kid."

Nutrient profile aside, it's a fair point and one that applies to many of us, who don't eat purely for fuel but also for pleasure.

Yet, somewhat surprisingly, Cordain says these ''comfort foods'' can still be a part of the Paleo diet or any other diet.

"If you want to have pizza and beer, you can," he says. "They're guidelines and you can comply with them any way you want. You just give people information and they make their own decision."

Certainly, there is an abundance of information out there and nutritional science is evolving at a rapid rate.

For instance, Cordain says: "When I wrote the book [in 2001], I was pretty much on board with the idea that saturated fat was not a good thing."

Since then, he has shifted his perspective based on the latest science and the book was updated in 2010 to reflect this.

But, with the shifting science and with the clutter of competing diet claims, it can become confusing.

Which it needn't be, argue the Yale paper authors. Diet affects both our vitality and our longevity, so it is a significant issue. But, it doesn't necessarily have to be a complex one.

For the plethora of diets and science out there, there is commonality among the claims, the authors say: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

SOURCE





Hyperlexia: Separating “autistic-like” symptoms from “autism”

This sounds like a considerable taxonomic advance

There is a great deal of attention these days, appropriately, to autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). It is a serious condition and deserves serious attention.   But discussions continue whether an apparent increase in the disorder is due to expanding criteria and better identification, or whether there is in fact an actual increase in incidence and prevalence.  This is an important question because if we are to make accurate diagnoses, develop effective treatment, and hopefully someday create preventative strategies, we need be careful to properly identify the condition.  Because, as elsewhere in medicine, the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right name from both clinical and research standpoints.
           One example of an area where that becomes especially important is hyperlexia—children who read early.  In these children it is critical to sort out “autistic-like” symptoms from “autism” because of very different treatment interventions and very different outcomes.  Let me explain.

           In my work with my specialty, savant syndrome, I get numerous, “I have a son or daughter who…” questions, almost daily, on my www.savantsyndrome.com website. These are messages from concerned parents wondering about certain unusual, but remarkable, savant-like skills including precocious music, art, or math skills for example.  Sometimes the special, conspicuous ability is a startling, advanced ability to read words in a very young child, well beyond that expected at the child’s chronological age.  This is usually coupled with an intense fascination with letters or numbers.  This is hyperlexia.

           In such precocious readers, in spite of intense preoccupation and ability with words, there are, correspondingly, significant problems in understanding and expressing verbal language.  Comprehension of that which is masterfully read is often poor, and thinking is concrete and literal.  There is difficulty with, and paucity of, abstract thinking.  There may be some development delays and there may be some “autistic-like” behaviors and symptoms commonly associated with autism spectrum disorders as well.  Those might include echolalia (repeating rather than initiating conversation), pronoun reversals, intense need to keep routines (obsession with sameness), auditory or other sensory hypersensitivity, specific intense fears, strong auditory & visual memory, and selective listening with the appearance of suspected deafness.

           Usually parents of hyperlexic children, when they inquire of this website, have had their children go through numerous evaluations, with various confusing and contradictory diagnoses such as autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder  not otherwise specified (NOS), behavior disorder, language disorder, gifted, Attention Deficit Disorder, or Asperger’s just to name a few.  In other instances there is no diagnosis applied except “precociousness.”  If the parent goes to the World Wide Web to learn about “hyperlexia,” as they often do, they are likely to find that “hyperlexia” is, mistakenly, always linked to autistic spectrum disorder.

           But the reality is, in my experience, that there are several types of “hyperlexia” and distinguishing among the several types is critical if appropriate treatment and educational decisions are to be made.   And equally important, the good news is that there are very different, positive outcomes in children with this advanced reading ability depending on the type of hyperlexia present.  This fact can provide a great deal of relief to parents worried that their child’s hyperlexia is automatically a part of autistic spectrum disorder, especially of course if their child already has been given such a diagnosis.

           The critical consideration is that when hyperlexia is present it should be carefully separated into three separate sub-types with special attention to separating “autistic-like” symptoms and behaviors from “autism.” To that end there are, in my experience, several types of hyperlexia to be considered.

Hyperlexia, Type I

           These are very bright, neurotypical children who simply read early to the amazement of their parents, grandparents, teachers, peers, and parents of their peers.  Often one or both parents have read frequently and patiently to their children.  Very early the child begins to “read” the book which is actually rather prolific memorization of the book triggered by the words and pictures on the pages themselves.  Soon however the child is actually reading the words in the book, rather than just memorizing them, and that reading ability can then be transferred to other books.  The child is a precocious reader at that point and is reading at a first or second grade level in pre-school, kindergarten or even before.  At some point, of course, most of the other children in the class catch up as they learn to read at the usual pace.  This group of bright, neurotypical children who read early I classify as having hyperlexia, type I.

Hyperlexia, Type II

           This is a group of children who do have hyperlexia presenting as a ‘splinter skill’ as a part of an autistic spectrum disorder.  They read voraciously usually with astonishing memory for what they read, often accompanied by other memorization skills and abilities, sometimes linked with number or even calendar calculating capability.  These ‘splinter skills’ are seen along with, and in the midst of, the characteristic language, social and behavioral symptoms seen in autistic spectrum disorders.   They usually carry a diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder or pervasive developmental disorder (PPD/NOS) for example.  These cases include the several sub-types of autistic disorder such as early onset, classic early infantile autism, or later onset, regressive, autism to name several.  In this group it is the hyperlexia as a splinter skill that raises the “savant syndrome” questions.  Clinical presentation, course of the illness and prognosis are those seen in characteristic autistic spectrum disorders.  These children are appropriately diagnosed as having “autism.”

Hyperlexia, Type III

           This is a less frequently recognized, and probably less common form of hyperlexia overall.  These children also read early, often show striking memorization abilities, and sometimes have precocious abilities in other areas as well.  They may some have “autistic-like” behaviors.  For example, they may show unusual sensory sensitivity (to sounds, touch or taste).  There may be fascination with and insistence on routine with resistance to change.  Unlike many autistic children, however, they tend to both seek and give affection and are generally more social, more outgoing, more interactive and less withdrawn than children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.  They do tend to make eye contact and can be very interactive with persons close to them although typically they are more comfortable with adults than peers.  These children are quite bright, inquisitive, and precocious overall.    Interest in, and mastery of, reading coupled with the enhanced memorization ability is conspicuous and quite amazing.   There may other transient “autistic-like” symptoms or behaviors, but over time the autistic-like traits, symptoms and behaviors fade and then disappear.  Some characterize this as the child having “outgrown” their autism.  But in my view, rather, this better outcome is because the child did not have Autistic Spectrum Disorder to begin with. The prognosis for these children, based on correspondence and follow up with many parents, is in a word, excellent.

The purpose of this article is not to discuss either autistic spectrum disorder or hyperlexia in depth.  Space precludes that.   Rather it is to point out that when precocious reading ability and extraordinary fascination with words presents itself in a very young child, especially when accompanied by other language or social problems that might suggest an autistic spectrum disorder, a comprehensive assessment by a knowledgeable professional  team familiar with the differential diagnosis of both autistic spectrum disorder and  the several forms of hyperlexia is indicated so that a diagnosis of “autism” is not inappropriately or prematurely applied.

           Many parents who had inquired on my website about their child with accelerated, savant-like precocious reading ability, obtained considerable help, and relief, when, in those particular instances, the diagnostic and treatment approaches consistent with the above were followed. Especially grateful were parents when it turned out their hyperlexic child was in group III above with “autistic-like symptoms” rather than Autistic Disorder.  But even parents of group II hyperlexic children were also helped, and relieved, when directed to knowledgeable resources in their community in those cases where hyperlexia was indeed a “splinter skill” in a child with autism.  Hopefully, as the literature continues to evolve on hyperlexia, there will be more clarification regarding the classification of hyperlexia into its component sub-groups, and then even more resources will emerge for comprehensive evaluation and application of appropriate treatment principles to individuals in both group II and group III.

Children Who Speak Late—The Einstein Syndrome

            Hyperlexia is not the only circumstance in which the distinction between “autism” and “autistic-like” symptoms is important.  An almost identical circumstance is seen in some very bright children who happen to speak late.  In his two books—Late-talking Children and The Einstein Syndrome, Thomas Sowell describes a number of very bright children who developed speech later than usual as having the “Einstein Syndrome” where outcome, like in hyperlexia III, was excellent but the children were given a diagnosis of  “autism” along the way.  Like reading early, speaking late in children can have several causes, including but not limited to autism, and a comprehensive differential diagnostic work-up is vital in making the final diagnosis and prescribing appropriate treatment and education strategies.

           Often, as elsewhere in medicine, particularly in puzzling cases, it is necessary to let the “natural history of the disorder” emerge before prematurely applying a definitive diagnosis or “label” that can have important, lasting consequences.   Treatment can still be applied to target symptoms, but parents or others can, in those cases, be spared the unnecessary worry and fear that their child is “autistic” when in fact the prognosis overall is quite good.  In hyperlexia III sometimes the social awkwardness or aloofness are the last to fade, but often as the child moves to first or second grade, for example, much of the behavior that “looked autistic” has faded and disappeared to everyone’s relief.

           In summary, several conditions can contribute to the circumstance in which children read early or speak late.  Sometimes those symptoms can be associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder—but not always.  In both children who read early or speak late, a comprehensive workup by a clinician skilled in diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder, and a workup by a skilled Speech and Language therapist are indicated with emphasis on differential diagnosis being careful not to apply any diagnosis prematurely.  Sometimes, in difficult cases, observing the natural history of the disorder without applying a definitive label is the preferred course until the true nature of the condition reveals itself.

           For further information my paper in the Wisconsin Medical Journal titled “Hyperlexia III: Separating ‘Autistic-like’ Behaviors from Autistic Disorder: Assessing Children who Read Early or Speak Late” provides more detailed discussion and examples of instances in which children read early or speak late.  It can be accessed on the www.savantsyndrome.com website on the right menu under ‘hyperlexia.”

SOURCE

Woman who lived on just CHIPS for 15 years

No dietary correctness there -- but she got by fairly well.  It may show how nutritious the humble potato is



A woman who lived on a diet of chips for 15 years has finally eaten a proper meal - after being hynoptised to overcome her debilitating fear of food.

Hanna Little, 20, has eaten chips every day since she was five years old - after she developed a fear of all other foods which made her physically sick if she tried to eat them.

Hanna from Truro, Cornwall, has severe Selective Eating Disorder (SED) and would suffer anxiety attacks at the thought of eating anything new.

Hanna could never eat with her friends, had to check menus before visiting restaurants and was in a constant panic about how she would react to new foods.

It was only when she was forced to quit her factory job after she kept passing out due to her limited diet that she was forced to take action.

Now after just one hypnotherapy session, she has managed to battle her demons - and has eaten her first proper meal - pizza - in more than a decade.

'Different foods terrified me, it made me physically sick and anxious and I never knew how I would react.  'I would go to parties, picnics and barbecues with my friends but I would never be able to eat anything. 

'I think I can eat chips because they're just plain - it was the idea of different flavours mixing together which really freaked me out.  'I could manage a slice of dry toast for breakfast, but lunch and dinner every day always had to be chips.

'Now I can eat whatever I like - my favourite food is pizza - I could never have imagined being able to eat it before the treatment but now I love it.'

SOURCE






Even casual use of cannabis alters brain, warn scientists

This is not a watertight case but it is persuasive

Experimenting with cannabis on a casual basis damages the brain permanently, research has found.  It is far from being a “safe” drug and no one under the age of 30 should ever use it, experts said.

People who had only used cannabis once or twice a week for a matter of months were found to have changes in the brain that govern emotion, motivation and addiction.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School in America carried out detailed 3D scans on the brains of students who used cannabis casually and were not addicted and compared them with those who had never used it.

Two major sections of the brain were found to be affected.

The scientists found that the more cannabis the 40 subjects had used, the greater the abnormalities.

Around 10 million people in Britain, almost a third of the population, have used illegal drugs, with cannabis the most popular. The research author, Dr Hans Breiter, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said: “This study raises a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use isn’t associated with bad consequences. Some people only used marijuana to get high once or twice a week.

“People think a little recreational use shouldn’t cause a problem, if someone is doing OK with work or school. Our data directly says this is not the case.

“I’ve developed a severe worry about whether we should be allowing anybody under age 30 to use pot unless they have a terminal illness and need it for pain.”

The team examined sections of the brain involved in emotion, motivation and addiction in 20 students who had used cannabis and 20 who had not. Anne Blood, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said: “These are core, fundamental structures of the brain. They form the basis for how you assess positive and negative features about things in the environment and make decisions about them.”

The changes are thought to be the first steps towards addiction as the brain alters the way it perceives reward and pleasure, making ordinary experiences seem less fulfilling compared with drug use.

Jodi Gilman, a researcher in the Massachusetts General Center for Addiction Medicine, said: “It may be that we’re seeing a type of drug learning in the brain. We think when people are in the process of becoming addicted, their brains form these new connections.

“Drug abuse can cause more dopamine release than natural rewards like food, sex and social interaction. That is why drugs take on so much salience, and everything else loses its importance.” The study is published in the Journal of Neurosciences.

Mark Winstanley, chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “For too long cannabis has been seen as a safe drug, but as this study suggests, it can have a really serious impact on your mental health.

“Research also shows that when people smoke cannabis before the age of 15, it quadruples their chance of developing psychosis. But very few people are aware of the risks involved.”

Prof David Nutt, from Imperial College, London, said a sample of 40 was not big enough to draw conclusions.

Prof Nutt, who was sacked as a government drugs adviser for his views, added: “Whatever cannabis does to the brain its not in the same league as alcohol which is a proven neurotoxin.”

SOURCE

War on salt has cut heart deaths (?)

Do I have to say it again?  Correlation does not prove causation.  The only salt-related deaths I know of are from TOO LITTLE salt. It's just guesswork below

Falling salt consumption has played an “important role” in the plummeting number of deaths from heart disease in Britain, researchers have said.

Between 2003 and 2011 average salt intake in England reduced by around 15 per cent while the number of deaths from heart disease and stroke fell by 40 per cent, their study found.

Health campaigners said the changes showed the success of efforts to persuade food manufacturers to reduce the salt content in a host of foods.

High salt intake is linked to raised blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease.

The research by Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and Queen Mary University, London, examined more than 30,000 patients over an eight year period.

It found falls in blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as other changes, such as a fall in smoking rates, and an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption.

Meanwhile salt intake was measured from 3,000 Britons over the same period - and showed that over the same period, consumption fell by an average of 1.4 grams a day - a 15 per cent reduction in intake.

Researchers said the significant reduction in salt was likely to have “played an important role” in the falling deaths over the period.

Other changes over the same period include an increase in the prescribing of statins, to reduce cholesterol and high blood pressure and improvements in the treatment of patients who suffer from heart disease.

But researchers said the research found that blood pressure fell even among those who were not taking medication, suggesting that a reduced salt intake was likely to have made a significant contribution to the fall in deaths.

Author Prof Graham MacGregor, of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, said: “It’s a success story - the UK is leading the world in salt reduction.

“Basically many other countries are now copying what we did in the UK when we started putting pressure on food companies to reduce salt levels around 10 years ago.

“This paper shows that it works. Cutting down salt will cause a major reduction in strokes and heart attacks. If you get salt down then blood pressure comes down, it’s very simple really.”

Researchers said that 80 per cent of daily salt intake comes from foods such as cereals, bread, meat products, ready meals, rather than being added to food.

However, experts said most people still eat too much salt, with average intake at 8.1 grams a day - well above Government recommendations of 6 grams a day.

Victoria Taylor, a senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said: “While the reductions in average intakes of salt are a positive change, we mustn’t forget that they are still well above the recommended maximum of six grams a day for adults.”

SOURCE





Idea of New Attention Disorder Spurs Research, and Debate

This "new" disorder is probably just low IQ

With more than six million American children having received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, concern has been rising that the condition is being significantly misdiagnosed and overtreated with prescription medications.

Yet now some powerful figures in mental health are claiming to have identified a new disorder that could vastly expand the ranks of young people treated for attention problems. Called sluggish cognitive tempo, the condition is said to be characterized by lethargy, daydreaming and slow mental processing. By some researchers’ estimates, it is present in perhaps two million children.

Experts pushing for more research into sluggish cognitive tempo say it is gaining momentum toward recognition as a legitimate disorder — and, as such, a candidate for pharmacological treatment. Some of the condition’s researchers have helped Eli Lilly investigate how its flagship A.D.H.D. drug might treat it.

The Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology devoted 136 pages of its January issue to papers describing the illness, with the lead paper claiming that the question of its existence “seems to be laid to rest as of this issue.” The psychologist Russell Barkley of the Medical University of South Carolina, for 30 years one of A.D.H.D.’s most influential and visible proponents, has claimed in research papers and lectures that sluggish cognitive tempo “has become the new attention disorder.”

In an interview, Keith McBurnett, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and co-author of several papers on sluggish cognitive tempo, said: “When you start talking about things like daydreaming, mind-wandering, those types of behaviors, someone who has a son or daughter who does this excessively says, ‘I know about this from my own experience.’ They know what you’re talking about.”

Yet some experts, including Dr. McBurnett and some members of the journal’s editorial board, say that there is no consensus on the new disorder’s specific symptoms, let alone scientific validity. They warn that the concept’s promotion without vastly more scientific rigor could expose children to unwarranted diagnoses and prescription medications — problems that A.D.H.D. already faces.

“We’re seeing a fad in evolution: Just as A.D.H.D. has been the diagnosis du jour for 15 years or so, this is the beginning of another,” said Dr. Allen Frances, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Duke University. “This is a public health experiment on millions of kids.”

Though the concept of sluggish cognitive tempo, or S.C.T., has been researched sporadically since the 1980s, it has never been recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which codifies conditions recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. The editor in chief of The Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Charlotte Johnston, said in an email that recent renewed interest in the condition is what led the journal to devote most of one issue to “highlight areas in which further study is needed.”

Dr. Barkley declined repeated requests for interviews about his work and statements regarding sluggish cognitive tempo. Several of the field’s other key researchers, Stephen P. Becker of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Benjamin B. Lahey of the University of Chicago and Stephen A. Marshall of Ohio University, also declined to comment on their work.

More HERE

Green tea CAN make you clever: Drink improves memory and could help treat dementia (?)

A very small study (N=12!) using an odd measure of cognitive functioning.  Journal article "Green tea extract enhances parieto-frontal connectivity during working memory processing"  here

Green tea has always been hailed as the healthiest hot drink of choice, but new research has found it can also be good for your mind.  Scientists claim green tea enhances several cognitive functions, in particular our working memory.

The new findings suggest that green tea could be used to treat dementia and other psychiatric disorders.

The new research, from the University of Basel, found that green tea extract increases the brain's effective connectivity.

Scientists at the university saw significant improvements in working memory tasks after people had consumed green tea.

The findings suggest green tea could be used to help treat memory loss caused by psychiatric disorders or as part of recovery.

Past studies have shown the health benefits that come from drinking green tea, but the neural mechanisms behind the effect were previously unknown

Volunteers were given a drink with green tea extract before being given working memory tasks to solve.

By monitoring brain activity through MRI scans, scientists could see an increased connectivity between the parietal and the frontal cortex of the brain.

‘Our findings suggest that green tea might increase the short-term synaptic plasticity of the brain’, co-author Prof. Borgwardt said.

The results of the study were published in the journal Psychopharmacology.

SOURCE






People exposed to earlier sunlight are leaner than those who get afternoon light

A very small study of unknown representativeness

A surprising new strategy for managing your weight? Bright morning light. A new Northwestern Medicine study reports the timing, intensity and duration of your light exposure during the day is linked to your weight—the first time this has been shown.

People who had most of their daily exposure to even moderately bright light in the morning had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) than those who had most of their light exposure later in the day, the study found. (BMI is a ratio calculated from a person's weight and height.)

"The earlier this light exposure occurred during the day, the lower individuals' body mass index," said co-lead author Kathryn Reid, research associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "The later the hour of moderately bright light exposure, the higher a person's BMI."

The influence of morning light exposure on body weight was independent of an individual's physical activity level, caloric intake, sleep timing, age or season. It accounted for about 20 percent of a person's BMI.

"Light is the most potent agent to synchronize your internal body clock that regulates circadian rhythms, which in turn also regulate energy balance," said study senior author Phyllis C. Zee, M.D. "The message is that you should get more bright light between 8 a.m. and noon." About 20 to 30 minutes of morning light is enough to affect BMI.

Zee is the Benjamin and Virginia T. Boshes Professor of Neurology and director of the Northwestern Medicine Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Research Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She also is a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"If a person doesn't get sufficient light at the appropriate time of day, it could de-synchronize your internal body clock, which is known to alter metabolism and can lead to weight gain," Zee said. The exact mechanism of how light affects body fat requires further research, she noted.

The study will be published April 2 in the journal PLOS ONE. Giovanni Santostasi, a research fellow in neurology at Feinberg, also is a co-lead author.

What's the Magic Number for Low BMI?

Many people do not get enough natural light in the morning, Zee said, because the American lifestyle is predominantly indoors. We also work in poorly lit environments, usually about 200 to 300 lux. In the study, 500 lux was "the magic number" or minimum threshold for having a lower BMI. Even on a cloudy day, outdoor light is more than 1,000 lux of brightness. It is difficult to achieve this light level with usual indoor lighting, the scientists noted.

Light May Be Next Frontier for Weight Loss

"Light is a modifiable factor with the potential to be used in weight management programs," Reid said. "Just like people are trying to get more sleep to help them lose weight, perhaps manipulating light is another way to lose weight."

Santostasi, a physicist by training, developed a new measure for the study that integrates the timing, duration and intensity of light exposure into a single number called mean light timing or MLiT.

He searched for a correlation between light exposure timing, duration or intensity in the study raw data, but none of those factors individually were associated with BMI. It was only when he began combining parameters, that he saw "the strong signal" when all three were examined together.

"I saw that what seemed to be most associated with body mass index was not just how much light you receive but when you get it and for how long," Santostasi said.

The study included 54 participants (26 males, 28 females), an average age of 30. They wore a wrist actigraphy monitor that measured their light exposure and sleep parameters for seven days in normal-living conditions. Their caloric intake was determined from seven days of food logs.

Befriend Your Body Clock – Get Morning Light

The finding emphasizes the importance of "circadian health" in which exposure to light and dark is synchronized with your internal body clock. "We focus on how too much light at night is bad; it's also bad not to get enough light at the appropriate time during the day," Zee said.

As part of a healthy lifestyle, people should be encouraged to get more appropriate exposure to light. Workplaces and schools should have windows. Employees should be encouraged to go outside for lunch or breaks, and indoor lighting should be improved in the school and workplace "This is something we could institute early on in our schools to prevent obesity on a larger scale," Zee said.

While duration and timing of sleep was not linked to the results, "owl" chronotypes, who stay up later and sleep later, would be a population affected by later light exposure. But even "larks," those who wake early, would be affected by lack of early light if they stayed inside in the morning.

While the study wasn't designed to examine how light exposure affects body fat, previous research at Northwestern and elsewhere shows light plays a role in regulating metabolism, hunger and satiety.

SOURCE