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NEJM Editorial Advises Against Extended-Release Niacin

By now you’ve heard that niacin is no longer recommended for reducing heart attacks and strokes. After 50 years of being a mainstay cholesterol therapy, niacin should no longer be prescribed for most patients due to potential increased risk of death, dangerous side effects and no benefit in reducing heart attacks and strokes, writes Northwestern Medicine® preventive cardiologist Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial published July 16. The study is no doubt controversial among physicians who rely on niacin for cardiovascular patients. Read the slideshow for a review of the study.

Clues Connect Estrogen and Autoimmune Disease

There is a phenomenon that scientists have yet to solve, regardless of whether a woman lives in the United States, where medical care is relatively good, or third world nations, where medical care is often scarce: women are less likely to die from infectious diseases than men. The lower death rate has been attributed to a beneficial, yet unexplained effect estrogen has on the immune system. Females of child-bearing age are more resistant to infectious disease and have an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study hypothesized that estrogen-induced gene expression could establish an immunoactivated state which would render enhanced defense against infection, but may be deleterious in autoimmune development.By Nicholas A. Young, Lai-Chu Wu, et al, Estrogen modulation of endosome-associated toll-like receptor 8: An IFNα-independent mechanism of sex-bias in systemic lupus erythematosus. Clinical Immunology, March 2014

Most comprehensive global study to date shows obesity rates climbing worldwide

Experts warn that the substantial rises in obesity rates across the world warrant concerted to reverse a troubling trend. More than half of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in just ten countries—the USA (more than 13%), China and India (15% combined), Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany , Pakistan, and Indonesia, and (listed in order of number of obese individuals). Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in rates of obesity and overweight in both adults (28% increase) and children (up by 47%) in the past 33 years, with the number of overweight and obese people rising from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013, according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, published in The Lancet.

Dear Doctor, #PleaseTextMe

Reminder: Plz take your meds. How r u feeling 2day? These aren’t texts from Mom, they are from physicians. Text messaging in health care started with routine appointment reminders. Today, evidence shows patients prefer to receive texts and updates from their health-care providers. Physicians report text messaging can influence health behavior and decisions and save time for health care providers. With better compliance outcomes and time savings, why aren’t you texting your patients? Download a free white paper for more on mobile technology and practice management.

Molecular Secrets Discovered for Resveratrol’s Health Benefits

Resveratrol has been much in the news as the component of grapes and red wine associated with reducing “bad cholesterol,” heart disease and some types of cancer. Also found in blueberries, cranberries, mulberries, peanuts and pistachios, resveratrol is associated with beneficial health effects in aging, inflammation and metabolism. Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have now identified one of the molecular pathways that resveratrol uses to achieve its beneficial action.

Iron Improves Women’s Exercise Performance

It is the first time researchers have been able to confirm that iron supplementation has beneficial effects on exercise performance. Dr Sant-Rayn Pasricha from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health said the findings could have implications for improved performance in athletes and health and general health and well-being in the rest of the population. “It may be worthwhile screening women, including women training as elite athletes, for iron deficiency, and ensuring they receive appropriate prevention and treatment strategies. Athletes, especially females, are at increased risk of iron deficiency potentially, due to their diets and inflammation caused by excessive exercise,” said Pasricha.

Chronic Inflammation and the Western Diet

Chronic inflammation is the 21st century’s leading health epidemic. It is the single common factor that contributes to the development and progression of chronic illnesses, many of which can be caused and modified by diet. As seen in this commentary by John Neustadt, ND, pathologies once viewed as unrelated are now grouped into the category of “inflammatory disease” including: atherosclerosis, dementia, arthritis, vasculitis, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. In this report, Neustadt reviews the anti-inflammatory benefits of a “prudent diet,” including the Paleolithic diet and the Mediterranean diet. Though the Paleo diet is more restrictive in grain, legumes, dairy and potato consumption than the Med diet, both have significant overlap in macro and micro-nutrients.

Food: The Vital Adjunct to Cardiovascular Care

By Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC As a cardiac care community, we have certainly become exceptionally adroit at managing heart disease – prescribing statins, treating hypertension, and implanting stents and defibrillators. But we do all this while failing to effectively address the underlying fundamental root cause of atherosclerosis – poor nutrition.

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HealthyKitchens HealthyLives: Disruptive Wellness

“What if medical schools and schools of public health partnered with culinary and behavioral change experts to create new curricula for both health care providers and chefs? Might this novel strategy ultimately benefit both patients and the general public?” — David Eisenberg, MD at HealthyKitchens HealthyLives conference, March 14, 2014

This was the opening statement at the recent HealthyKitchens HealthyLives conference at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in St. Helena. Is Eisenberg an idealist or realist? Had I not seen it myself, I might have used the “i” word, with a capital I. As with any disruptive innovation, idealism is one part of the energy quotient that drives change. This conference explored the hands-on reality of how to affect lasting behavior change starting in the kitchen.

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