September 30, 2009
By Albertina Torsoli Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Eating fish, shown in previous studies to promote heart health, failed to stave off cardiac failure in a study by Dutch researchers. The analysis, which started in 1990 and involved 5,299 men and women over the age of 55 living in a Rotterdam suburb, found no difference in the risk of developing heart failure between those who ate fish and those who didn’t, according to a press release posted on the AlphaGalileo science Web site. The study will be published today in the European Journal of Heart Failure , the release said. “Scientists and health authorities are increasingly persuaded that the intake of fish, even in small amounts, will protect against the risk of fatal myocardial infarction,” or heart attack, study investigator Marianne Geleinjse, from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, said in the statement. “However, there is no strong evidence that eating fish will protect against heart failure.” Heart failure isn’t a one-time event like a heart attack. It’s a gradual weakening of the heart’s pumping power, leaving sufferers with poor circulation that leads to shortness of breath, painfully swollen legs and fluids that pool in the lungs. About 30 million people in Europe are affected with heart failure, the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission, according to the release. The researchers set out to investigate whether the fatty acids and vitamins found in fish protected consumers against heart failure the way they seem to do against heart attacks. During the 11.4 years of follow-up, 669 of the people monitored developed heart failure, according the release. Individuals had been asked to indicate the frequency, amount and kind of fish they had eaten, either as a hot meal, a sandwich or between meals. Fish consumption in the Netherlands is very low, on average less than one portion a week, the researchers said. A daily fish consumption of more than 20 grams a day, high for the group studied, led to no added protection against heart failure, the researchers said. “Maybe higher intakes are needed for any protection against heart failure,” Geleinjse said. To contact the reporter on this story: Albertina Torsoli in Paris at atorsoli@bloomberg.net
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August 16, 2009
By Shinhye Kang Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) — North Korea said it will ease restrictions on cross-border travel with the South, a sign the communist regime is backing away from the hard line accompanying this year’s nuclear test, missile launches and threats of war. Tourism to a mountain resort on North Korea’s eastern coast will resume “as soon as possible†and meetings between relatives will begin again on Oct. 3, the official Korea Central News agency reported. Visits to the border city of Gaeseong will start again and the government pledged to “energize†operations of a nearby industrial complex, KCNA said. “The content of the release surpasses expectations,†said Paik Hak Soon, a North Korea expert at Sejong Institute outside Seoul. “It seems North Korea is seriously expressing its willingness to improve relations.†The softer stance follows on a pair of diplomatic successes with the North that began with U.S. President Bill Clinton securing the release of two detained American journalists on Aug. 5. North Korea then freed a South Korean worker it had detained for more than four months after Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong Eun traveled to the communist nation. Hyun extended her trip to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il yesterday. North Korea had restricted border crossings and access to the complex for South Koreans in December in protest over what it called the hostile policies of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak . North Korea, which tested a second nuclear weapon in May, has threatened to nullify all agreements with South Korea, and said in May it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the three-year Korean War. The reclusive state also vowed to never again participate in negotiations with the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. To contact the reporter on this story: Shinhye Kang in Seoul at skang24@bloomberg.net
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