I highly recommend walking/hiking. We have fantastic trails by the river and up the mountains in SLC. Go with a friend or loved one. If you go by yourself, listen to a good book (classics are free on YouTube) or good music, like Mozart. Rodier, MD
Daily steps could lead to longer life
“HealthDay (9/3, Mann) reported that a new study found that “folks who took about 7,000 steps a day had a 50% to 70% lower risk of dying from all causes…after 11 years of follow-up when compared with people who took fewer steps each day.” Quicker steps weren’t necessarily any better, the study showed. Step intensity, or the number of steps per minute, didn’t influence the risk of dying.” The findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.”
Comment: most people take 7,000 steps walking 3 miles. Walking is the #1 rated exercise because of fitness, relaxation and sociability.
Mozart effect in epilepsy
European J. Neurology 2021;28:1463
“The neurotransmitter dopamine, which plays a role in the brain’s reward system, is released when listening to music. Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major suppressed brain activity in patients with epilepsy.”
Comment: Haydn did not. I would guess KISS would not, either. Lowering the chances of seizures tells us that the brain is more at peace.
NAFLD links to increased risk for cardiovascular events
Healio Minute, September 23, 2021
“Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, aka Fatty Liver, correlated with an increased long-term risk for cardiovascular events and may be an independent risk factor for CVD morbidity and mortality, according to research. “The clinical burden of NAFLD is not only restricted to its liver-related complications, but also includes an increased risk for CVD,” Alessandro Mantovani, MD, and colleagues wrote. “To our knowledge, there are only three previous meta-analyses that have examined the association between NAFLD and risk of CVD mortality and morbidity. These meta-analyses showed that NAFLD is associated with an increased risk for incident CVD while the available data on its association with CVD mortality were conflicting.”
Comment: Fatty Liver is an epidemic in the USA. It is one of the first signs a person is Pre-Diabetic. Blood vessels and our clotting mechanisms are inflamed, along with just about everything else (see blog on Alzheimer’s and refined sugars.)
Gut microbiome impacts future weight loss
Healio Minute, September 14, 2021
“Certain baseline gut microbiome features correlated with future changes in weight following intervention, according to study results published in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. “In our study, we observed that only very few blood and lifestyle measures associate with future weight loss after a change in lifestyle,” said Christian Diener, PhD, at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington. “However, the genes carried by the bacteria in our gut do. Our intestinal bacteria are an important filter between the food we consume and our bloodstream. Weight loss may be especially hard when our gut bacteria slow their own growth, while also breaking down dietary fibers into energy-rich sugars that make their way into our bloodstream before they can be fermented into organic acids by the microbiota.”
Comment: this problem, toxins in the environment (obesogens—see blog) and stress, are often involved when people cannot lose weight despite good activity and diet.
AD/HD associated with risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s
“HealthDay (9/14, Thompson) reports, “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [AD/HD] appears to be somehow linked to risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” investigators concluded after analyzing data on some “two million people born in Sweden between 1980 and 2001.” The study revealed that parents of a child with AD/HD “have a 34% higher risk of dementia and 55% higher risk of Alzheimer’s,” while “grandparents have about an 11% increased risk of either condition.” The findings were published online in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.”
Comment: Fortunately, you may avoid that slippery continuum of brain inflammation/oxidation by eating your veggies, avoiding refined foods and exercising your mind and body.
Eating breakfast lowers risk for death
Healio Minute, September 01, 2021
“Eating breakfast regularly, especially when the meal included more than 25 grams of fiber, was linked to lower overall and cardiovascular mortality, a cohort study showed. Those who ate more than 25 grams of fiber daily had a 21% reduction in all-cause mortality. Reference: King DE, Xiang J. Jrnl Am Board Fam Med. 2021;doi:/10.3122/jabfm.2021.04.210044. Dana E. King, MD, MS, and Jun Xiang, MS, MA, both from the department of family medicine at West Virginia University, merged data from 5,761 adults aged 40 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey from 1999 to 2000 and 2001 to 2002 and the 2015 Public-use Linked Mortality File. According to the researchers, 82.9% of the adults indicated that they ate breakfast. During an average of more than 12 years of follow-up, 35.2% of the participants died, with CVD responsible for 8.1% of the deaths. A multivariable-adjusted analysis showed that the breakfast eaters, compared with non-breakfast eaters, were less likely to experience mortality (overall mortality HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57-0.84; cardiovascular-related mortality HR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.32-0.63). Those who consumed more than 25 grams of fiber daily experienced a 21% drop in all-cause mortality after multivariable adjustments (HR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66-0.96). The breakfast eaters consumed more calories and fiber daily, tended to be older and had lower BMI than the non-breakfast eaters, researchers said. Researchers previously found a link between high fiber intake and low inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein levels, which may explain the associations found in the study, according to King and Xiang. The FDA, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet, recommends a daily intake of 28 grams of fiber per day. King and Xiang wrote that their findings align with previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses that found skipping breakfast increased the risk for being overweight or obese and developing diabetes.”
Comment: best to skip some other meal if you must. Getting up in the morning releases adrenal hormones associated with stress. If they are not mitigated by good fuel, they may add stress to every organ of the body.
Use of antibiotics increase risk for proximal colon cancer
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021;doi:10.1093/jnci/djab125.
“Use of antibiotics appeared consistently associated with higher subsequent risk for proximal colon cancer, according to results of a nationwide, population-based study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers also reported an inverse association between antibiotics use and rectal cancer among women. “Previous studies had indicated that there was an association between antibiotics use and colorectal cancer risk. In this study, we were able to take advantage of comprehensive registry data to further break down and validate this relationship,” Sophia Harlid, PhD, research fellow in the department of radiation sciences in oncology at Umeå University in Sweden, told Healio. “Although our study provides an additional reason to restrict the use of antibiotics, when possible, the main reason for this remains the risk [for] introducing bacterial resistance.”
Comment: No, the main reason for this is the damage antibiotics inflict on our microbiome. It comprises 2/3 of our immune system and it detoxifies environmental pollutants associated with cancer. Be thankful when your doctor says you don’t need an antibiotic.
