A scientific literature review has reportedly warned against routine energy drink use, claiming that these beverages have been associated with reported “serious adverse events, especially in children, adolescents, and young adults with seizures, diabetes, cardiac abnormalities, or mood and behavioral disorders or those who take certain medications.” Sara Seifert, et al., “Health Effects of Energy Drinks on Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults,” Pediatrics, February 2011. Using PubMed and Google resources “to identify articles related to energy drinks,” researchers apparently estimated that energy drinks “are consumed by 30% to 50% of adolescents and young adults,” and raised concerns about the effects on those with cardiovascular conditions, ADHD, eating disorders, and diabetes. “Energy drinks have no therapeutic benefit, and both the known and unknown pharmacology of various ingredients, combined with reports of toxicity, suggest that these drinks may put some children at risk for serious adverse health effects,” reported the reviewers, who…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A recent study has claimed that, “among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before the age of 4 months, introduction of solid foods before the age of 4 months was associated with increased odds of obesity at age 3 years.” Susanna Huh, et al., “Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children,” Pediatrics, February 2011. Harvard researchers apparently followed 847 children enrolled in a pre-birth cohort study known as Project Vida, using “separate logistic regression models for infants who were breastfed for at least 4 months (‘breastfed’) and infants who were never breastfed or stopped breastfeeding before the age of four months (‘formula-fed’), adjusting for child and maternal characteristics.” The study findings apparently indicated that, among the formula-fed infants only, “introduction of solid foods before 4 months was associated with a six-fold increase in odds of obesity at age 3 years.” “One possible reason why we saw…
A study presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2011 has reportedly linked daily diet soda consumption “to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular-related deaths.” Led by University of Miami scientist Hannah Gardener, researchers analyzed soft drink consumption for 2,564 people enrolled in the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), grouping participants into seven categories ranging from those who drank less than one soda of any kind per month, to those who reported daily regular or diet soda consumption. The study results evidently showed that, after an average follow-up of 9.3 years, participants who drank one diet soda every day “had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events than those who reported no soda drinking.” “This study suggests that diet soda is not an optimal substitute to sugar-sweetened beverages, and may be associated with a greater risk of stroke,” Gardener was quoted as saying. She added,…
Based on a small sample of butter purchased in Texas grocery stores, researchers have concluded that high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) found in one sample “were likely transferred from contaminated wrapping paper to butter.” Arnold Schecter, et al., “Contamination of U.S. Butter with Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Wrapping Paper,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2011. While they were unable to pinpoint the contamination’s source, the study’s authors suggest that their research can “serve to alert the public, scientists, food processors, and regulatory agencies that relatively high levels of food contamination with emerging POPs [persistent organic pollutants] sometimes occurs.” They call for additional research and spot checks by regulatory agencies “to determine when and where screening for POPs contamination of food is most appropriate and would also help reduce incidence of contaminated food sold to the public.” Meanwhile, in commentary on recent scientific literature involving food contact materials, an assistant University…
The National Research Council (NRC) recently issued a report suggesting that past smoking and current obesity levels are major reasons why U.S. life expectancy at age 50, though still rising, has not kept pace with that of other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia. Sponsored by the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research, the report explained that the health consequences of smoking, which 30 to 50 years ago was “much more widespread in the U.S. than in Europe or Japan,” continue to influence today’s mortality rates. It anticipated, however, that “life expectancy for men in the U.S. is likely to improve relatively rapidly in coming decades because of reductions in smoking in the last 20 years,” while women’s mortality rates “are apt to remain slow for the next decade.” The report also concluded that current obesity rates “may account for a fifth to a third of…
A January 25, 2011, commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has claimed that “regular (nonalcoholic) energy drinks might pose just as great a threat to individual and public health and safety” as the alcoholic versions recently barred by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to authors Amelia Arria and Mary Claire O’Brien, “health professionals should inform their patients of the risks associated with the use of highly caffeinated energy drinks; the public should educate themselves about the risks of energy drink use, in particular the danger associated with mixing energy drinks and alcohol; and the alcohol and energy drink industries should voluntarily and actively caution consumers against mixing energy drinks with alcohol, both on their product labels and in their advertising materials.” Calling for increased regulation, the article focuses on research suggesting that the caffeine in energy drinks could cause “adverse health…
A recent study has reportedly questioned the role of HDL cholesterol in lowering heart disease risk, suggesting instead that one specific protein or compound in so-called “good” cholesterol might be better than others at removing bad cholesterol. Amit Khera, et al., “Cholesterol Efflux Capacity, High-Density Lipoprotein Function, and Atherosclerosis,” New England Journal of Medicine, January 13, 2011. According to the study abstract, researchers measured cholesterol efflux capacity—or how well HDL extracted cholesterol from cells—in “203 healthy volunteers who underwent assessment of carotid artery intima–media thickness, 442 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease, and 351 patients without such angiographically confirmed disease.” The results evidently showed that overall HDL levels were “a less effective” predictor of heart disease than HDL’s ability to remove cholesterol. As one study author noted, these findings could help researchers identify “a particular protein that’s a major determinant” of cholesterol efflux capacity, thus allowing them to test for poor…
A recent study has reportedly suggested that women who consume more than 3.6 ounces of red meat daily had a 42-percent risk of cerebral infarction compared to those who ate less than 1 ounce. Susanna C. Larsso, et al., “Red Meat Consumption and Risk of Stroke in Swedish Women,” Stroke, December 2010. Swedish researchers evidently examined data from 34,670 women ages 39 to 73, finding that over 10 years, participants in the top quintile for red meat consumption were at a 22-percent increased risk of cerebral infarction over the bottom quintile. In addition, women who reported eating at least 1.5 ounces of processed meat per day had 24-percent greater risk than those who ate less than half an ounce. The study’s authors, however, did not draw any conclusions about other types of stroke, nor did they find increased risks related to fresh meat and poultry consumption. Red and processed meat…
A recent study has reportedly confirmed a massive die-off in four North American bumble bee species, raising concerns about the effects on agricultural crops and native plants. Sydney Cameron, et al., “Patterns of Widespread Decline in North American Bumble Bees,” PNAS, January 3, 2011. Led by University of Illinois Entomology Professor Sydney Cameron, researchers examined eight species, comparing approximately 73,000 historical records with data from “intensive nationwide surveys” involving more than 16,000 specimens. Their findings apparently indicated that “the relative abundances of four species have declined by up to 96% and that their surveyed geographic ranges have contracted by 23–87%, some within the last 20 [years].” According to a January 3, 2011, University of Illinois press release, the study authors suspect that pathogens, habitat loss and low genetic diversity could all be contributing to the decline. They also noted that bumble bees, which are adapted to colder climates, help pollinate…
According to University of Kentucky researchers, manufactured nanoparticles discharged into waste streams could wind up in agricultural biosolids and thus enter the food chain. Jonathan D. Judy, et al., “Evidence for Biomagnification of Gold Nanoparticles within a Terrestrial Food Chain,” Environmental Science & Technology, December 2010. The study’s authors reportedly used gold nanoparticles to examine the uptake mechanism of tobacco plants and tobacco hookworms, finding that while both organisms absorbed nanoparticles, the hookworm exhibited concentrations 6 to 12 times higher than the plant. “We expected [nanoparticles] to accumulate, but not biomagnify like that,” said University of Kentucky environmental toxicologist Paul Bertsch in describing the process by which substances increase in concentration higher up the food chain. Meanwhile, a second study has raised questions about how predatory microbes retain nanoparticles. R. Werlin, et al., “Biomagnification of cadmium selenide quantum dots in a simple experimental microbial food chain,” Nature Technology, December 2010.…
