A recent study has reportedly concluded that an “inflammatory dietary pattern” (IDP) is linked to higher depression risk, raising questions about whether chronic inflammation “may underlie the association between diet and depression.” Michael Lucas, et al., “Inflammatory dietary pattern and risk of depression among women,” Brain, Behavior and Immunity, October 2013. Defined as a dietary pattern that is positively associated with all inflammatory biomarkers, IDP for the purposes of the study represented a diet “relatively high in sugar-sweetened soft drinks, refined grains, red meat, diet soft drinks, margarine, other vegetables, and fish but low in wine, coffee, olive oil, green leafy and yellow vegetables.” Using food questionnaire data from 43,685 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study over a 12-year follow-up period, Harvard School of Public Health researchers reported a dose-response relationship between IDP score and depression risk for both stricter and broader definitions of depression. “In this large prospective…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A recent meta-analysis has allegedly found that “high consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, may increase all-cause mortality.” Susanna Larsson and Nicola Orsini, “Red Meat and Processed Meat Consumption and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis,” American Journal of Epidemiology, October 2013. Based on data from nine prospective studies, the meta-analysis focused on reported relative risks associated with the consumption of unprocessed red meat (“beef, pork, lamb, or game”) and processed meat (“any meat preserved by smoking, salting, curing, or by the addition of chemical preservatives”). “Overall,” states the study, “those in the highest category of processed meat and total red meat consumption had increased all-cause mortality of 23% and 29%, respectively, compared with those in the lowest category.” The authors also noted that unprocessed red meat “was not significantly associated with all-cause mortality,” hypothesizing that the added salt in processed meat “may increase all-cause mortality by increasing the risk of…
Public Health England researchers have reported that the abnormal prion protein (PrP) linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)—is potentially more prevalent than previously thought, raising concerns about the cross-contamination risks associated with blood, blood products and surgical instruments. Noel Gill, et al., “Prevalent abnormal prion protein in human appendixes after bovine spongiform encephalopathy epizootic: large scale survey,” British Medical Journal, October 2013. After finding that 16 out of 32,411 appendix samples obtained between 2000 and 2012 tested positive for abnormal PrP, the study’s authors estimated an overall prevalence of 493 per million population, nearly double the 237 per million point estimate measured in an earlier survey of appendixes. “Unlike in clinical cases of variant CJD, no particular age group or geographic region was affected, and no susceptible genotype was identified,” according to a concurrent BMJ editorial. The researchers noted, however, the growing discrepancy…
A recent study has allegedly concluded that soft drink consumption “is significantly linked to overweight, obesity and diabetes worldwide, including in low- and middle-income countries.” Sanjay Basu, et al., “Relationship of Soft Drink Consumption to Global Overweight, Obesity, and Diabetes: A Cross-National Analysis of 75 Countries,” American Journal of Public Health, November 2013. Relying on soft drink industry data obtained from the EuroMonitor Passport Global Market Information Database, researchers analyzed soft drink sale records for 79 countries from 1997 to 2010 that included per capita annual purchases of both imported and domestically-produced carbonated soft drinks. They also examined age-standardized overweight prevalence data obtained from the World Health Organization’s Global Database on Body Mass Index, which reflects “the best available population-representative, survey-based estimates of the percentage of adults aged 20 years and older in each country who had a [BMI] of 25 kg/m2 of greater.” After assessing “global trends and variation…
Noting the difficulty of classifying products with probiotics, defined as live microorganisms that have a beneficial effect when consumed in sufficient quantities, due to their varied marketing as foods, dietary supplements, medical foods, foods for special dietary use, or drugs, University of Maryland professors in law, medicine and pharmacy suggest ways that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could regulate them. D.E. Hoffmann, et al., “Probiotics: Finding the Right Regulatory Balance,” Science, October 18, 2013. For example, probiotic products with drug claims “generally should be subject to the same rigorous requirements as other products making drug claims, including adequate and well-controlled investigations.” They also recommend an abbreviated approval format for “probiotic foods, dietary supplements, and dietary ingredients for which there is adequate evidence of safety in the target population; approved food additives; and substances generally recognized as safe (GRAS).” They further recommend that FDA “establish a monograph for probiotic foods…
Two new studies recently published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases have reportedly identified for the first time in more than 40 years a new strain of Clostridium botulinum, prompting debate over whether the genetic sequences needed to reproduce the toxin should be made available to the public despite concerns that the information could pose a security risk. Jason Barash and Stephen Arnon, “A Novel Strain of Clostridium botulinum That Produces Type B and Type H Botulinum Toxins,” Journal of Infectious Diseases, October 2013. Nir Dover, et al., “Molecular Characterization of a Novel Botulinum Neurotoxin Type H Gene,” Journal of Infectious Diseases, October 2013. According to an October 10, 2013, article in CIDRAP News, the California Department of Public Health researchers who discovered botulinum neurotoxin type H (BoNT/H) using an infant botulism case have declined to release their data until an antitoxin has been developed. They apparently arrived at their decision after…
A recent study has concluded that multi-sensory environmental factors play an important role in how consumers perceive the taste of whiskey. Carlos Velasco, et al., “Assessing the influence of the multisensory environment on the whisky drinking experience,” Flavour, October 2013. Oxford University researchers apparently asked 441 volunteers to sample the same glass of whiskey while visiting each of three rooms engineered to evoke the smell of grass, the taste of sweetness and the texture of wood. Participants then reportedly rated the whiskey as (i) being grassier on the nose when they visited the room decorated with artificial turf and infused with the smell of fresh-cut grass and the sounds of sheep, (ii) tasting sweet when they visited the room with a sweet scent that was also awash with red light and high-pitched “tinkling” sounds; and (iii) having a woody aftertaste when they visited the room decorated like a cedar forest.…
A recent study asserts that the energy and sodium content of main entrées served in U.S. chain restaurants has remained unchanged over a one-year period, despite the enactment of federal regulations requiring menu labeling. Helen Wu & Roland Sturm, “Changes in the Energy and Sodium Content of Main Entrées in US Chain Restaurants from 2010 to 2011,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, October 2013. Relying on data collected from chain restaurant Websites between spring 2010 and spring 2011, the study’s authors noted that “mean energy and sodium did not change significantly overall, although mean sodium was 70 mg lower across all restaurants in added vs removed menu items at the 75th percentile.” They also reported that even though fast-food chains reduced the mean energy in children’s menu entrées by 40 kcal, the adult-sized dishes with reduced sodium levels “far exceeded recommended limits,” while not all significant changes…
UC Davis Health System researchers have reportedly identified “a biological pathway that is activated when blood sugar levels are abnormally high and causes irregular heartbeats, a condition known as cardiac arrhythmia that is linked with heart failure and sudden cardiac death.” Jeffrey Erickson, et al., “Diabetic hyperglycaemia activities CaMKII and arrhythmias by O-linked glycosylation,” Nature, October 2013. According to a recent press release, the study’s authors apparently found the biological link after conducting “detailed molecular experiments” using rat and human proteins and tissues, including “assessments of whole heart arrhythmias with optical mapping in isolated hearts and in live diabetic rats.” The results evidently showed “that the moderate to high blood glucose levels characteristic of diabetes caused a sugar molecule (O-linked N acetylglucosamine, or O-GlcNAc) in heart muscle cells to fuse to a specific site on a protein known as calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II, or CaMKII.” This fusion with O-GlcNAc…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that diets high in calories and animal fat are associated with increased rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Japan and eight other countries. William Grant, “Trends in Diet and Alzheimer’s Disease During the Nutrition Transition in Japan and Developing Counties,” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, September 2013. Using nutrition data supplied by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center Director William Grant compared AD trends in Japan with changes in national dietary supply factors, alcohol consumption and lung cancer mortality rates over 25 years, in addition to comparing AD trends in eight developing countries with changes in national dietary supply factors over the same time period. The results evidently showed that in Japan, “alcohol consumption, animal product, meat and rice supply, and lung cancer rates correlated highly with AD prevalence data, with the strongest correlation for a lag of 15-25…
