MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Dr James J DiNicolantonio PharmD
Ithaca, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. DiNicolantonio: The increase in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in the United States occurred with an increase in the consumption of carbohydrate not saturated fat. There is no conclusive proof that a low-fat diet has any positive effects on health (good or bad). The public fear that saturated fat raises cholesterol is completely unfounded as the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle size distribution is worsened when fat is replaced with carbohydrate. A public health campaign is drastically needed to educate on the harms of a diet high in carbohydrate/sugar.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Dr Linda Englund-Ögge
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences
Sahlgrenska Academy, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Gothenburg, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Women adhering to a prudent* or a traditional** dietary pattern during pregnancy had a significantly reduced risk of preterm delivery, even after adjusting for a range of confounders. The prudent pattern was also significantly associated to lower risk in the nulliparous, in spontaneous and in late preterm delivery.
*, characterized by high intake of e.g. vegetables, fruit, whole grains and water to drink.
**, characterized by high intake of e.g. boiled potatoes, fish and cooked vegetables.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ulf Risérus
Associate Professor in Clinical Nutrition
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences
Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism
Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala university
Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Risérus: It has previously been shown in animal studies that overfeeding polyunsaturated fat causes less fat accumulation than saturated fats, but this study is the first to suggest that this could be true also in humans. Overeating saturated fats caused significantly more accumulation of fat in the liver and intra-abdominally, as compared with overeating polyunsaturated fats from. This study suggests it does matter where the excess calories come from when we gain weight. If a high-caloric diet contains large amounts of saturated fats it seems to switch on some genes that may promote abdominal fat storage and insulin resistance, and thereby result in a more unfavorable fat storage. In contrast, such effects were not seen if the diet was lower in saturated fats but higher in polyunsaturated fats from non-tropical vegetable oils. This study also suggests a novel contributing factor regarding the tendency of some individuals to accumulate fat in the liver and abdomen, i.e. in some people excessive amounts of saturated fat in combination with sugars might induce more fat in their livers and a propensity towards abdominal visceral fat accumulation.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Yoko Yokoyama, Ph.D., M.P.H.
National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan,
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Yokoyama: We found consistent evidence that a vegetarian diet has a significant blood-pressure-lowering effect, and this was clear both in observational studies of individuals who had chosen vegetarian diets on their own and in intervention trials in which people were asked to make diet changes.
Our meta-analysis included 32 observational studies and 7 controlled clinical trials. In the observational studies, vegetarian diets were associated with blood pressures that were about 7 mmHg lower systolic and 5 mmHg lower diastolic. In the clinical trials, the reductions were about 5 mmHg systolic and 2 mmHg diastolic. These are pooled averages, so for some individuals, particularly those with higher body weights or higher blood pressures at the beginning, the blood-pressure-lowering effects could be much greater.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jane Muncke PhD
Managing Director
Food Packaging Forum Foundation
Zurich, Switzerland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main conclusions from your work?Answer:Food packaging is a relevant, but still under-recognized source of chemical contamination in foods. Everybody is exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis, but we have very little understanding of the actual health effects caused by this chronic exposure source. We propose that epidemiological research tackles chemical exposures from food packaging as a new and highly relevant exposure source. Epidemiologist have played crucial roles in advancing understanding of health issues, for example cardiovascular disease caused by fine particulate air pollution. Through their work they have encouraged toxicologists to ask different questions, thereby supporting the generation of critical knowledge and, essentially, enabling prevention.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kirstie Bell
Diabetes Dietitian, CDE & PhD Candidate
Human Nutrition Unit
The University of Sydney
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: Overall, the evidence to support carbohydrate counting is limited, with current data showing a non-significant improvement in HbA1c. Pooled results from 7 quality randomised control trials studies showed carbohydrate counting had no significant effect on glycemic control (-0.35%, p = 0.096). There was a significant improvement in HbA1c of 0.64% points in studies in adults that were conducted in a parallel design.
This is the first meta-analysis of carbohydrate counting in type 1 diabetes. Up until now, it has not been known what improvement in glycemic control can be expected. Current international guidelines for diabetes management have been based merely on gradings of the available evidence. However, assessing the overall effectiveness of carbohydrate counting is critical in clinical practice to guide medical and dietary management decisions.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chih-Jen Chang, MD
Department of Family Medicine
National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Chang: Postmenopausal women without vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats) have poorer sleep quality than premenopausal women. In addition, menopause and snoring are associated with an increased risk of poor sleep quality independently of cardiometabolic factors and lifestyle.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Kinesh Patel, Research Fellow
Wolfson Unit for Endoscopy
St Mark’s Hospital, Harrow HA1 3UJ, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Patel: Most drugs prescribed in primary care have ingredients that come from
animals, but the animals they come from is not always clear and whether the
drugs are suitable for vegetarians is difficult to find out conclusively,
even after looking at information available on packets, information
leaflets and on the internet.
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MedicalReseach.com Interview with: Quanhe Yang, PhD
Division for Heart Disease
and Stroke Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Atlanta, GA 30341
MedicalReseach.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Yang: The majority of US adults consume more added sugar than is recommended for a healthy diet. On average, Americans consume about 15% of daily calories from added sugar. About 70% of adults consume more than 10%of calories from added sugar and another 10% consume more than 25% of calories from added sugar. When you compare those who consume 7.5% (lowest quintile) of calories from added sugar with participants who consume between 17%-21% (quintile 4) of calories from added sugar, the latter group has a 38% higher risk of CVD mortality. But the risk of CVD death more than doubles for those who consume ≥21% (highest quintile) of calories from added sugar.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Prof Aedin Cassidy
University of East Anglia,
Norwich Research Park, Norwich
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: We know fruits and vegetables seem to be particularly important for prevention of heart disease and diabetes but what constituent may responsible for these benefits is unclear. These foods contain powerful bioactive compounds called flavonoids and in lab and animal experiments we know that flavonoids can reduce inflammation, improve BP, keep our arteries healthy and flexible, improve blood flow and reduce cholesterol levels. Our previous work had shown that a higher level of one class of flavonoids, the anthocyanins, responsible for the brilliant red/blue colours in fruits and other plant foods/products, could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and of having a heart attack. This study builds on this and now we have evidence in humans that following intake of one portion of berries per day we can see these heart health benefits, and benefits on how we control our insulin and glucose levels.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Jie Jin Wang MMed (Clin Epi) MAppStat PhD
Professor Australian NHMRC Senior Research Fellow (Level B)
Centre for Vision Research
Westmead Millennium Institute University of Sydney C24
Westmead Hospital, NSW 2145 Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: We documented a consistent association between high dietary intake of lutein/zeaxanthin (LZ) and a reduced long-term risk of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in persons who carry ≥2 risk alleles of either or both the complement factor H (CFH-rs1061170) and/or the age-related maculopathy susceptibility gene 2 (ARMS2-rs10490924)in two older population-based cohorts.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Prof. Victoria J Burley
Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Epidemiology
School of Food Science and Nutrition
University of Leeds
Biostatistics, University of Leeds, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Prof. Burley: Although it’s been suggested for a long time that foods rich in dietary fiber may protect individuals from having a heart attack or stroke because they lower some of the risk factors for these diseases, trying to determine how much dietary fibre might be beneficial and whether these benefits are apparent in all populations around the world has been less easy to research. Our research at the University of Leeds has pooled the results of published large-scale follow-up studies and has demonstrated a consistent lowering of risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease with increasing dietary fiber intake. This dose-response trend suggests that even small additional increments in intake may be beneficial in the long term.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jyrki Virtanen, PhD
Adjunct Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology
University of Eastern Finland
Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition
Kuopio, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Virtanen: The main finding was that serum long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentration, an objective biomarker of fish and long-chain omega-3 PUFA intake, was associated with a lower risk of incident type 2 diabetes during the average follow-up of 19.3 years in middle-aged and older men from Eastern Finland. The risk was 33% lower in the highest vs. the lowest quartile after adjustment for potential confounders. In contrast, hair mercury, a marker for long-term exposure to mercury, was not associated with the risk. Previously in this study population, high hair mercury content has been associated with higher risk of cardiovascular diseases and attenuation of the beneficial impact of long-chain omega-3 PUFA on the risk. Also, we did not find associations with the intermediate-chain length omega-3 PUFA alpha-linolenic acid, either, which is a plant-based omega-3 PUFA. This suggests that the findings were specific to the long-chain omega-3 PUFAs from fish.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Flavia Indrio, MD
Department of Pediatrics
Aldo Moro University of Bari
Bari, ItalyMedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer:The main finding is that for the first time the use in prevention instead of treatment with a probiotic for the colic regurgitation and constipation.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, MSA
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: This study examined 2007-2012 commercialism trends in schools attended by nationally representative samples of US elementary and secondary students.
While some measures showed significant decreases over time (especially
beverage vending measures), most students at both elementary and secondary
school levels continued to be exposed to school-based commercialism.
Commercialism increased significantly with grade level. The most frequent
type of commercialism varied by school level: food coupons used as
incentives was most common at the elementary school level, while exclusive
beverage contracts were the most prevalent type of commercialism for middle
and high school students.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Jordi Salas-Salvadó, MD, PhD
Human Nutrition Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Healthy Sciences
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C/ Sant Llorenç, 21, 43201 Reus, Spain
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: Randomized trials have shown that lifestyle interventions promoting weight loss can reduce the incidence of type-2diabetes, however, whether dietary changes without calorie restriction or increased physical activity also protect from diabetes development has not been evaluated in the past. In our study, we found that a long-term adherence to a high-quality dietary pattern akin to the traditional MedDiet and rich in extra-virgin olive oil was able to reduce the incidence of new cases of diabetes in older individuals at high cardiovascular risk. We have demonstrated for the first time that a beneficial effect on diabetes prevention could be obtained witha healthy dietary pattern (without calorie restriction, increased physical activity or weight loss). These benefits have been observed in participants between 55 to 80 years-old at high cardiovascular risk; therefore,the message is that it is never too late to switch to a healthy diet like the Mediterranean.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Sohyun Park, PhD,
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA 30341
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Park:Nearly 1 out of 3 U.S. adults (30.5%) consumed sugar-sweetened beverages at least 1 time per day; 20% consumed sugar-sweetened beverages at least 2 times per day. About 8 out of 10 adults agreed that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can contribute to weight gain. However, 8 of 10 adults also did not know the actual calorie content of a 24-oz fountain soda. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, adults who were neutral (neither agreed nor disagreed) that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can contribute to weight gain were more than 1-and-a-half times more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages at least 2 times per day. Conversely, knowledge about the calorie content of a 24-oz fountain soda was not associated with sugar-sweetened beverage intake.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Raj S Bhopal
Bruce and John Usher Professor of Public Health
Edinburgh Ethnicity and Health Research Group,
Centre for Population Health Sciences,
University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH89AG
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Prof. Bhopal:In a randomised controlled trial, a tailored, family orientated intervention whereby dietitians worked in the family home to provide diet and exercise advice in people at high risk of developing diabetes, had a modest but potentially important effect in reducing weight at the end of the three-year intervention, by 1.6 kg more than in the control group.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Adana A.M. Llanos, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
RBHS-School of Public Health
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway, NJ 08854
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Llanos: Our longitudinal study examined the effects of both tomato-rich and soy-rich diets in a group of 70 postmenopausal women who participated in the study at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. For 10 weeks, women ate tomato products containing at least 25 milligrams of lycopene daily. For a separate 10-week period, the participants consumed at least 40 grams of soy protein daily. Before each test period began, the women were instructed to abstain from eating both tomato and soy products for two weeks. We examined the dietary intervention effects on hormone biomarkers known to be associated with obesity, namely adiponectin and leptin. After the tomato-rich diet participants' levels of adiponectin climbed nine percent. The effect was slightly stronger in women who had a lower body mass index.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Miranda M. Lim, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Sleep Medicine
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Lim: People with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have persistent sleep-wake disturbances including excessive daytime sleepiness and nighttime insomnia, yet the link between a hard blow to the head and drowsiness remains a mystery. We report that a dietary supplement containing branched chain amino acids helps keep mice with TBI awake and alert. The findings suggest that branched chain amino acids, something all humans produce from foods in their normal diets, could potentially alleviate sleep problems associated with TBI. In experiments with brain-injured mice that had trouble staying awake, we found that feeding the animals a dietary supplement enriched with branched chain amino acids improved wakefulness. Treated mice not only stayed continuously awake for longer periods of time, they also showed more orexin neuron activation, neurons known to be involved in maintaining wakefulness. (Previous studies have shown that people with narcolepsy lose significant amounts of orexins.) Branched chain amino acids are the building blocks of neurotransmitters, the chemicals released by neurons in the brain, including glutamate and GABA. We believe that branched chain amino acids act to restore the excitability of orexin neurons after brain injury, which could potentially promote wakefulness. Further studies are needed to pinpoint the exact mechanism of branched chain amino acids effect on sleep pathways in the brain, and to determine any side effects.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Dr Kamal Ivory
Institute of Food Research
Norwich Research Park Norwich, UK
Gut Health & Food Safety ISP
The Institute of Food Research receives strategic funding from BBSRCMedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Ivory: In the present study we show that administration of probiotics in the gut can induce changes at the nasal mucosa where the immune system meets pollen allergen. This implies a potential to alter the course of allergic rhinitis. However, in our single high dose pollen challenge in the clinic (out of pollen season), we did not measure any significant changes in the clinical parameters we had set. It is not clear if this was because a single challenge fails to replicate occurrence during natural seasonal exposure to pollen in terms of dosage and timing. That aside, the mode of action may vary from one probiotic organism to another and it is possible that a cocktail of probiotic organisms may be needed for clinical effectiveness. If funding becomes available, we would like to repeat the study during the pollen season.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Maki Inoue-Choi, PhD, MS, RD
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIH
Rockville, MD 20850
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: In our study, postmenopausal women who reported higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages were more likely to develop estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer, the most common type of this cancer.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor, Associate Dean for Graduate Academic and Student Affairs College of Natural Science Michigan State University
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-4320
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Schwartz: The main finding is that exposure to a high fat diet from the age of puberty onwards hastened the development of chemical carcinogen-induced breast cancer in absence of weight gain. We also found that prior to the appearance of any tumors, we could detect changes in the mammary gland that included increased cellular proliferation, increased vascularity, and changes in immune function.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Raakel Luoto, MD
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings...
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Ying Bao, MD, ScD
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Bao: Frequent nut consumption is inversely associated with risk of pancreatic cancer in women, independent of other potential risk factors for pancreatic cancer.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Masato Tsutsui, MD, PhD, FAHA
Professor and Chairman
Department of Pharmacology
Graduate School of Medicine
University of the Ryukyus
Okinawa 903-0215, Japan
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Tsutsui: A recent large prospective study reported that coffee consumption is associated with reduced mortality for cardiovascular disease (NEJM 2012). However, its precise mechanisms remain to be clarified. Our double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study demonstrated, for the first time, that caffeine contained in a cup of coffee ameliorates microvascular endothelial function in healthy individuals. These findings may explain, at least in part, the association of coffee consumption with reduced mortality for cardiovascular disease.
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MedicalResearch.com: Samantha Gardener PhD Student
Senior Research Assistant for DIAN and AIBL Studies
McCusker Alzheimer's Research Foundation
2/142 Stirling Hwy NEDLANDS
6009 Western Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study?Answer: Our research indicates that consuming larger quantities of foods included in a western dietary pattern is associated with greater cognitive decline in visuospatial functioning after 36 months. Foods included in the western dietary pattern are red and processed meats, high fat dairy products, chips, refined grains, potatoes, sweets and condiments. Visuospatial functioning is an area which includes distance and depth perception, reproducing drawings and using components to construct objects or shapes.
In contrast, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, a healthy eating pattern is associated with less decline in executive function. Foods included in the Mediterranean diet are vegetables, fruits and fish. Examples of executive function include planning and organising, problem solving and time management.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Magdalena Cuenca García, PhD
University of Granada
Department of Physiology, School of Medicine
Avd. Madrid 12; 18012 Granada (Spain)
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Answer: In conclusion, the results of the present study showed that a higher chocolate consumption was associated with lower levels of central and total fatness in European adolescents. Of note is that the observed association was independent of total energy intake and saturated fat intake as well as objectively measured physical activity. In addition, results remained unchanged after adjusting for foods with high catechins concentration as fruit, vegetables and tea; as well as other products such as coffee that could influence the observed association between chocolate consumption and markers of total and central body fat.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sung Kyun Park, Sc.D., M.P.H
Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Ann Arbor, MI
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: This study reports that persons who eat more dietary antioxidants (beta carotene and vitamin C) or magnesium have a lower risk of hearing loss. This finding was seen in the levels currently observed in the general US population and independent of demographic and socioeconomic factors, noise exposures from workplaces, recreations or firearms, and other potential risk factors.
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with Cécilia Samieri, PhD
Institut pour la Santé Publique et le Développement, Case 11, Université Bordeaux Segalen, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?Dr. Samieri: That women with healthier dietary patterns at midlife were 40% more likely to survive age 70 or over free of major chronic diseases and with no impairment in physical function, cognition or mental health.
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