a-study-found-

Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Severely Obese Teens, Study Finds

by on February 9, 2010

By Jason Gale Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Weight-loss surgery was more effective at slimming severely obese teens and improving their health than two years of diet and exercise, a study found. Adolescents fitted with Allergan Inc. ’s Lap-Band device lost about 11 times more weight compared with a group following so-called lifestyle approaches, researchers in Melbourne said. The results reported today in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for younger obese patients, the authors said. Weight-loss surgery has soared in popularity among U.S. adults in response to rising rates of obesity. The procedure has been controversial because the quality of evidence to support it is poor, said Edward H. Livingston , professor of surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a contributing editor to the journal. The study’s findings “go a long way toward providing the evidence necessary to evaluate the benefits and risks of bariatric surgery,” Livingston wrote in an accompanying editorial. “Many insurance companies in the United States will not pay for bariatric surgeries, and their decision to not cover this treatment is based on the lack of compelling, universally accepted evidence in its favor.” Obesity Rate Doubled At least one U.S. adolescent in six — more than 5 million people — was obese in 2004, according to the study. The number of obese Americans has more than doubled over 30 years to 72 million, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who are overweight or obese have a greater risk of diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, the Atlanta-based agency said last month. Allergan had 2009 revenue of $238 million for products designed to treat obesity and most of it was from sales of the Lap-Band, said company spokeswoman Cathy Taylor in an e-mail today. The Irvine, California, company is testing the device in severely obese adolescents ages 14 to 17 and submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year for approval in that age group, she said. For the study, researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University followed 50 adolescents ages 14 to 18 over two years. All participants were deemed severely obese, having a body mass index , or BMI, greater than 35. Half were randomly selected for gastric banding and the remainder was asked to follow an individualized diet and exercise plan. Reversible Procedure Gastric banding is done when a surgeon places a band around the upper portion of the stomach to create a pouch to hold food, which limits the amount a person can eat. The reversible procedure is one of the two most common for weight loss, with the other being gastric bypass . In today’s study, two years after the start the gastric banding group had lost an average of 34 kilograms (76 pounds), representing an overall average loss of 28 percent of total body weight and 79 percent of excess weight, the researchers said. In comparison, the lifestyle group lost an average of 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), or an average of 3.1 percent total weight loss and 13 percent excess weight loss. “Despite a comprehensive, behaviorally focused intervention, those in the lifestyle group were not able to achieve substantial weight loss,” wrote the study’s authors led by Paul E. O’Brien , director of Monash’s Centre for Obesity Research and Education. “Indeed, keeping adolescents and their parents involved in the trial for its two-year duration proved challenging.” Allergan supplied the Lap-Band Adjustable Gastric Banding system used in the research, the study said. Lower Risk Although the study wasn’t designed to measure improvements in specific health problems, it did demonstrate a reduction in a group of conditions associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the authors said. At enrollment, 9 study participants in the gastric banding arm and 10 in the lifestyle group suffered from so-called metabolic syndrome , as the group is known. After 24 months, none of the gastric banding group had the problem, compared with 4 of the 18 teens in the lifestyle group who completed the study. “Gastric banding proved to be an effective intervention leading to a substantial and durable reduction in obesity and to better health,” the authors said. The gastric banding group experienced no adverse events in the period shortly after surgery, the authors said. Eight operations to adjust the band or repair tubing connected to the band were required in seven patients in the surgery group. “The gastric banding approach to weight loss is not a quick fix,” the researchers wrote. Lifestyle treatments may achieve weight loss and improved health for some individuals and should remain the first option for obese adolescents, they said. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. One of the study’s authors, John Dixon of Monash University, reported consulting agreements with Allergan and other companies. To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net

Go here to read the rest:
Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Severely Obese Teens, Study Finds

Thirdhand Smoke Forms Cancer-Causing Indoor Residue That Lasts, Study Says

by on February 8, 2010

By Nicole Ostrow Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — Tobacco smoke contamination lingering on furniture, clothes and other surfaces, dubbed thirdhand smoke, may react with indoor air chemicals to form potential cancer-causing substances, a study found. After exposing a piece of paper to smoke, researchers found the sheet had levels of newly formed carcinogens that were 10 times higher after three hours in the presence of an indoor air chemical called nitrous acid commonly emitted by household appliances or cigarette smoke. That means people may face a risk from indoor tobacco smoke in a way that’s never been recognized before, said one of the study’s authors, Lara Gundel . Previous research has shown that secondhand smoke, which is inhaled by nonsmokers exposed to fumes from cigarettes, raises the risk of cancer and heart disease. More research is needed to identify the potential health hazards of thirdhand smoke, Gundel said. Overall, tobacco use causes 20 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the study published in today’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . “We have considered that nicotine on surfaces has been pretty benign up to this point. It turns out we shouldn’t say that now,” said Gundel, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, in a Feb. 5 telephone interview. “People can be exposed to toxins in tobacco smoke in a way that’s never been recognized before.” Residue Found A spokesman for Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc. , did not return a telephone call for comment. Spokesmen for Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc. did not respond to telephone calls for comment. A previous study, published in the journal Pediatrics in January 2009, found residual tobacco smoke is deposited on furniture, carpeting and clothing and coined the phrase “thirdhand smoke.” Today’s study found that when the residue from tobacco smoke settled on indoor surfaces, it mixed with indoor air pollutants to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines, or TSNAs, which are potent cancer-causing substances found in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke. The researchers checked for nitrosamine levels by exposing paper to smoke and then to nitrous acid, which is produced by gas ovens and burners that aren’t properly vented and by cars. They also tested the surfaces on the inside of a truck of a heavy smoker. In both cases they found the reaction between the nicotine in thirdhand smoke and the nitrous acid produced two known and potent nitrosamines. They also found a tobacco-specific nitrosamine that is absent in freshly emitted tobacco smoke. Children Exposed People, particularly infants and toddlers, are most likely exposed to these carcinogens by either inhaling dust or by skin contact, the authors said. Using fans and opening a window doesn’t help eliminate the hazards because most of the nicotine and other substances from burning cigarettes aren’t found in the air, but are absorbed by surfaces, Gundel said. “Buildings, rooms, public places should be 100 percent smoke free,” she said. “Replace nicotine-laden furniture, carpets and curtains. Nicotine absorbs into these materials. The stuff that’s imbedded can continue to come to the surface.” The researchers are trying to determine how long these nitrosamines may last as a result of the interaction of thirdhand smoke and the indoor air pollutant, nitrous acid. They are also looking to develop ways to track exposure to nitrosamines. “We know that these residual levels of nicotine may build up over time after several smoking cycles, and we know that through the process of aging, thirdhand smoke can become more toxic over time,” said study co-author Hugo Destaillats , a chemist with the Indoor Environment Department of the Berkeley national lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, in a statement. “Our work highlights the importance of thirdhand smoke reactions at indoor interfaces, particularly the production of nitrosamines with potential health impacts.” The study was sponsored by the University of California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program . To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net .

Read more from the original source:
Thirdhand Smoke Forms Cancer-Causing Indoor Residue That Lasts, Study Says

Half Teaspoon Less Salt Each Day May Save Lives, Billions in Medical Costs

January 20, 2010

By Alexandra Thomas Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) — Consuming just half a teaspoon less salt each day may save as many as 92,000 U.S. deaths and as much as $24 billion in medical costs a year, a study found. A 3-gram daily salt reduction per person would lower annual cases of heart disease and stroke by about one-third, according to an analysis published today in the New England Journal of Medicine . The authors used a computer-simulation model to estimate that the change in consumption would save $10 billion to $24 billion in annual health-care costs from drugs and other treatments for high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Reducing salt intake would improve health as much as quitting smoking, losing weight and taking medications for lowering cholesterol, the researchers found. Salt reduction lowers blood pressure, so a cutback of just 1 gram per day would have substantial benefits in about one third of adults with high blood pressure, the study said. “There is a common misperception that only certain people should reduce their salt intake and that for the vast majority of the population salt reduction is unnecessary,” said Lawrence Appel and Cheryl Anderson of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in an editorial published today in the journal. “The opposite is true. For adults who reach the age of 50 years, the lifetime risk that hypertension will develop is 90 percent.” Recommendations Half a teaspoon of salt equals about 1,200 milligrams of sodium, or 3 grams of salt, according to the American Heart Association’s Web site . The heart association also announced today it was lowering its recommended amount of daily sodium intake to less than 1,500 milligrams from 2,300 milligrams. Sodium is found in a number of products besides table salt. Those include monosodium glutamate and baking soda. The study was done by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California, and at Columbia University in New York using a computer model of coronary heart disease in U.S. residents age 35 and older. The researchers estimated that lowering daily salt intake by 3 grams would have health benefits at least as large as reducing smoking by 50 percent or using statin drugs to treat people with a low or intermediate risk for heart disease. New York City health officials are pushing for a reduction in the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25 percent over the next five years, since Americans currently consume about twice the recommended daily amount of salt, city officials said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently changed other city health regulations, cutting trans fats in eating places and requiring fast-food restaurant menus to list calories. The United Kingdom, Finland and Ireland already have aggressive public programs to reduce salt intake, according to the editorial that accompanied the study. To contact the reporter on this story: Alexandra Thomas in Washington at athomas48@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

You Lose If You Don’t Snooze; Study Finds You Can’t Catch Up on Lost Sleep

January 13, 2010

By Trista Kelley Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) — People who frequently get too little sleep and try to make up the deficit with periodic longer bouts of rest perform more poorly at work, a study found. Nine participants in the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, were asked to get by for three weeks with an average of 5.6 hours of sleep every 24 hours. While subjects snoozed 10 hours at a time to catch up on shuteye, their performance deteriorated in response tests during the subsequent 33 hours awake, making them vulnerable to errors and accidents. The effects of sleep loss are “hazardous,” researchers including Daniel A. Cohen at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston wrote in the study. Staying awake for 24 hours straight equals having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 percent, beyond the 0.08 percent legal limit for driving in the U.S. While the exact functions of sleep are unknown, earlier studies show that cheating the body out of rest increases the likelihood of illness, stress, weight gain, learning and memory problems and traffic accidents. “These findings translate into a warning for employers,” the editors wrote in an accompanying summary of the findings. “Workers who need to remain awake for extended periods of time cannot maintain normal performance — and may not be aware of this vulnerability — if they are suffering from chronic sleep loss.” The results suggest sleep loss affects the brain in at least two different ways: one regulatory process that builds over the hours spent awake and another that builds over days or weeks of getting too little sleep. The study may be useful in developing healthier schedules for those with shift jobs such as truck drivers and medical students, and to treat patients with sleep disorders, the authors said. To contact the reporter on this story: Trista Kelley in London at tkelley2@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Teen Boys Drink and Fight More, Girls Less, When Playing Team Sports

November 10, 2009

By Aaron Kuriloff Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Playing team sports increases teenage boys’ likelihood to binge drink and fight, while reducing unhealthy behavior in girls, a study found. Teen girls who played team sports said they fought less, were depressed less often and didn’t smoke as much, according to a study presented today at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting . Male athletes who played team sports also reported some benefits, such as less depression and smoking, the organization said in a news release. “Sports team participation appears to have both protective and risk-enhancing associations,” said the study’s author, Susan M. Conner from the Injury Prevention Center at University Hospitals’ Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, in the release. “These results indicate that healthy lifestyle benefits are not universal and do not apply equally across genders.” The study surveyed 13,000 U.S. high school students to evaluate links between team sports and risky behavior. About 60 percent of the boys reported they played team sports within the last year, compared with 48 percent of girls. The boys playing team sports reported binge-drinking rates 40 percent higher and fighting 30 percent more often than nonathletes, according to the news release. The athlete boys also showed 30 percent lower rates of depression and 20 percent less smoking. The girls showed no link to drinking in the study, the research reported. The athletic girls showed 10 percent lower rates of fighting, 30 percent less depression, 50 percent less smoking and 10 percent less unhealthy weight loss habits compared with nonathlete girls, the study found. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Teenage Boys Drink, Fight More, Girls Less, When Playing Organized Sports

November 9, 2009

By Aaron Kuriloff Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Playing team sports increases teenage boys’ likelihood to binge drink and fight, while reducing unhealthy behavior in girls, a study found. Teen girls who played team sports said they fought less, were depressed less often and didn’t smoke as much, according to a study presented today at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting . Male athletes who played team sports also reported some benefits, such as less depression and smoking, the organization said in a news release. “Sports team participation appears to have both protective and risk-enhancing associations,” said the study’s author, Susan M. Conner from the Injury Prevention Center at University Hospitals’ Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, in the release. “These results indicate that healthy lifestyle benefits are not universal and do not apply equally across genders.” The study surveyed 13,000 U.S. high school students to evaluate links between team sports and risky behavior. About 60 percent of the boys reported they played team sports within the last year, compared with 48 percent of girls. The boys playing team sports reported binge-drinking rates 40 percent higher and fighting 30 percent more often than nonathletes, according to the news release. The athlete boys also showed 30 percent lower rates of depression and 20 percent less smoking. The girls showed no link to drinking in the study, the research reported. The athletic girls showed 10 percent lower rates of fighting, 30 percent less depression, 50 percent less smoking and 10 percent less unhealthy weight loss habits compared with nonathlete girls, the study found. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →