A study examining the link between parental body mass index (BMI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has reportedly claimed that paternal obesity “is an independent risk factor for ASDs in children.” Pal Suren, et al., “Parental Obesity and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders,” Pediatrics, April 2014. Noting that previous research focused only on the role of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity in neurodevelopmental disorders, the study’s authors relied on data from 92,909 children enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child Study to estimate the relative risk of ASDs using logistic regression models. The results evidently showed that “maternal obesity (BMI ≥30) was only weakly associated with ASD risk, whereas paternal obesity was associated with an increased risk of autistic disorder and Asperger disorder.” In particular, the study reported that (i) the risk of autistic disorder was 0.27 percent in children of obese fathers and 0.14 percent in children of normal-weight fathers, and…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
Cornell University researchers have reportedly identified five new species of Listeria that they suggest could provide new insights leading to better methods of detecting soil bacteria in food. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the research was part of a larger study led by scientists at Colorado State University and Cornell to examine the distribution of foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella, in agricultural and natural environments. Samples were taken from fields, soil, ponds, and streams in New York, Colorado and Florida. Noting that of the 10 previously known species of Listeria, only two are pathogenic to humans, the researchers claim that Listeria monocytogenes is the main cause of Listeriosis, reportedly the cause of hundreds of deaths and illnesses each year in the United States through infected deli meats, seafood and produce. According to lead study author Henk den Bakker, the study findings have implications for understanding the evolution of what makes…
A recent study has reportedly demonstrated “the protective effect of coffee on non-viral hepatitis-related cirrhosis mortality.” George Boon-Bee Goh, et al., “Coffee, alcohol and other beverages in relation to cirrhosis mortality: the Singapore Chinese Health study,” Hepatology, April 2014. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers examined diet, lifestyle and medical history data from 63,275 middle aged participants enrolled in The Singapore Chinese Health Study over a mean follow-up of 14.7 years. During that time, 114 participants died from cirrhosis related to viral hepatitis (33 percent), chronic alcohol consumption (12 percent) and hepatitis C (2 percent), as well as biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune cirrhosis, and cryptogenic or unspecified cirrhosis. In addition to finding that alcohol consumption was “a strong risk factor for cirrhosis mortality,” the study evidently showed an inverse dose dependent relationship between caffeine intake and non-viral cirrhosis mortality. The study’s authors have suggested that “the benefit of coffee on…
A recent study has purportedly claimed that “both low sodium intakes and high sodium intakes are associated with increased mortality,” raising questions about sodium consumption guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health authorities. Niels Graudal, et al., “Compared with Usual Sodium Intake, Low- and Excessive-Sodium Diets are Associated with Increased Mortality: A Meta-Analysis,” American Journal of Hypertension, April 2014. After analyzing data from 23 cohort and two followup studies involving 274,683 individuals, Danish researchers reported that the risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease events “were decreased in usual sodium vs. low sodium intake… and increased in high-sodium vs. usual sodium intake,” a result “consistent with a U shaped association between sodium intake and health outcomes.” In particular, the main findings apparently showed that “2,645-4,945 mg of sodium per day, a range of intake within which the vast majority of Americans fall, actually results…
A research abstract presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Scientific Sessions 2014 has claimed that “overweight or obese teenagers who eat lots of salty foods may show signs of fast cell aging.” According to a March 20, 2014, AHA press release, researchers with the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University analyzed the telomere-to-single-copygene ratios of 766 participants ages 14-18 who were divided into two groups representing low-sodium intake (an average of 2,388 mg/day) and high sodium intake (an average of 4,142 mg/day). The abstract’s authors noted that overweight and obese teens in the high-intake group had telomeres “that were significantly shorter” than the telomeres of normal weight teens in the same intake group. “Even in these relatively healthy young people, we can already see the effect of high sodium intake, suggesting that high sodium intake and obesity may act synergistically…
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) recently published two research articles related to fast food and obesity, including a study claiming that “individuals who are genetically predisposed to obesity may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of eating fried foods.” Qibin Qi, et al., “Fried food consumption, genetic risk, and body mass index: gene-diet interaction in three US cohort studies,” BMJ, March 2014. Relying on food consumption data from three cohort studies involving 37,000 men and women, researchers with the Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School also assigned participants “a genetic risk score based on 32 known genetic variants associated with BMI and obesity.” The results evidently showed that “eating fried food more than four times a week had twice the effect on BMI for those in the highest third of genetic risk as those in the lowest third.” “This work provides formal proof…
A recent study has reportedly concluded that cereal and bread are major sources of dietary salt intake for children and adolescents in the United Kingdom. Naomi Marrero, et al., “Salt Intake of Children and Adolescents in South London: Consumption Levels and Dietary Sources,” Hypertension, March 2014. After analyzing the urinary sodium levels of 340 children ages 5 to 17, researchers reported that 70 percent of all participants consumed more salt than the maximum recommended amount for their age group. In particular, the results purportedly showed that “salt intake increased with age and was also higher in boys than in girls for the 5- to 6- and 13- to 17-year age groups.” With 66 percent of the 5- to 6-year-olds, 73 percent of the 8- to 9-year-olds, and 73 percent of the 13- to 17-year-olds exceeding daily salt recommendations, the researchers also noted that cereal and cereal products contributed 36 percent…
A recent study funded by the National Toxicology Program and conducted by researchers with the Food and Drug Administration’s National Center for Toxicological Research has reportedly found no evidence linking low doses of bisphenol A (BPA) to adverse estrogenic effects in an animal model. K. Barry Delclos, et al., “Toxicity Evaluation of Bisphenol A Administered by Gavage to Sprague Dawley Rats From Gestation Day 6 Through Postnatal Day 90,” Toxicological Sciences, February 2014. To examine the effects of BPA on Sprague Dawley rats shown to be sensitive to estrogenic compounds, scientists administered the substance to rat dams from the sixth day of gestation through labor and to their pups from the first day after birth through postnatal day 90. These rats received either a low dose of BPA (2.5-2700 µg/kg bw/day) or a high dose (100,000 and 300,000 µg/kg bw/day), with the lower dose reportedly corresponding to approximately 70,000 times the…
A new study has concluded that advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which occur in heat-processed meat and animal products, can cause brain changes similar to those found in Alzheimer’s disease or metabolic syndrome, a pre-diabetic state. Weijing Cai, et al., “Oral glycotoxins are a modifiable cause of dementia and the metabolic syndrome in mice and humans,” PNAS, February 2014. Led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the study reportedly used a mouse model to show that consuming AGE-rich foods “raised the body’s level of AGEs, which, among other effects, suppressed levels of sirtuin, or SIRT1, a key ‘host defense’ shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease as well as metabolic syndrome.” The study’s authors noted that mice fed a high-AGE diet not only exhibited high levels of AGE in their brains and low levels of SIRT1 in their blood and brain tissue, but also developed cognitive and…
Researchers with the University of Illinois, Chicago, Institute for Health Research and Policy have published a study allegedly concluding that, contrary to industry claims, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes “do not have a negative impact on state-level employment.” Lisa Powell, et al., “Employment Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes,” American Journal of Public Health, February 2014. Using a macroeconomic simulation model to assess the employment impact of a 20-percent state-level SSB tax in California and Illinois, the study’s authors also factored “changes in SSB demand, substitution to non-SSBs, income effects, and government expenditures of tax revenues” into their final calculations. Based on this analysis, the study estimates that SSB sales would decline by $678.8 million in Illinois and $1.2 billion in California as the result of a 20-percent tax. At the same time, however, SSB taxes would increase government revenue by $554.3 million in Illinois and $940.4 million in California while sales revenue…
