More Than Two-Thirds of U.S. Adults Now Overweight or Obese

Fewer than one-third of Americans are currently at a healthy weight, with the rest of the population either overweight or obese, a new report finds.

About 35% of men and 37% of women are obese. Another 40% of men and 30% of women are overweight, researchers said in the June 22 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Obesity is not getting better. It’s getting worse, and it’s really scary. It’s not looking pretty,” said Lin Yang, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Obesity has been linked to a number of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and arthritis, Yang said.

“This generation of Americans is the first that will have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation, and obesity is one of the biggest contributors to this shortened life expectancy because it is driving a lot of chronic health conditions,” she said.

The new report used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey gathered between 2007 and 2012, involving more than 15,000 men and women age 25 and older.

Based on the data, researchers estimate than more than 36 million men and nearly 29 million women in the United States are currently overweight. About 32 million men and 36 million women are obese, the researchers found.

Popular Heartburn Meds Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Attack

People who use certain heartburn drugs for a long period of time may have a slightly heightened risk of suffering a heart attack, a new study suggests.

Using medical records from nearly 300,000 U.S. adults with acid reflux disease (commonly called heartburn), researchers found that the risk of heart attack was slightly elevated among those using proton pump inhibitors.
Proton pump inhibitors are a group of acid-suppressing drugs that include brand-names such as Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium. In 2009, they were the third most commonly used type of drug in the United States, the researchers said.

The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, adds to the list of risks linked to prolonged use of proton pump inhibitors.

“These are powerful drugs, and we already know they have negative effects,” said Dr. F. Paul Buckley III, surgical director at the Scott & White Heartburn and Acid Reflex Center, in Round Rock, Texas.

Most of those long-term risks are linked to the drug’s suppression of stomach acids, said Buckley, who was not involved in the new study.

When stomach acids are blocked, the body is less able to absorb certain nutrients, including magnesium, calcium and vitamin B12. And proton pump inhibitors have been linked to problems such as bone-density loss and fractures.

Researcher Dr. John Cooke, chair of cardiovascular sciences at the Houston Methodist Research Institute estimates proton pump inhibitor users were 16 to 21% more likely to suffer a heart attack than people with chronic acid reflux who were not taking the drugs.

Wisdom Wednesday: Vitamers

No, that’s not a misprint or spelling error although spell check doesn’t recognize vitamers. A vitamer of a particular vitamin is any of a number of chemical compounds, generally having a similar molecular structure. All vitamers show vitamin-activity in vitamin-deficiency biological systems, but not necessarily in humans.

Some of these vitamers are familiar to you. For example, Vitamin A has at least six vitamer chemicals that all qualify as “vitamin A”. In the vitamin A family, four of the chemicals naturally found in foods are carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene and xanthophylls). These chemicals give fruits and vegetables the colors of red, yellow, and orange. Retinols, and retinal forms, found in animal-based foods, are however many times more active in the human body.

Typically, the vitamin activity of multiple vitamers is limited by the body’s ability to convert one vitamer to another, or to add the enzymatic cofactor(s) to make the bioavailable or bio-active form of the vitamin.

Vitamin B12 occurs in foods as cyanocobalamin. When it is absorbed into the epithelial lining of the small intestine, the epithelial cells convert cyanocobalamin to one of two biologically active forms – methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin. The cyanide is stripped off of cobalamin and a methyl group or adenosyl group (the enzymatic cofactors) are substituted. The active vitamer is then released into the blood stream to function as vitamin B12.

Only ‘Limited’ Evidence for Mammograms in 40s

Adding to the debate about the benefits of mammography screening before age 50, a new research review find “limited” evidence that screening prevents breast cancer deaths among women in their 40s.

The results come from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which asked experts from 16 countries to look at the latest evidence on breast cancer screening.

What they found largely confirmed what experts have long said: For women ages 50 to 75, routine mammograms reduce the risk of dying form breast cancer.

The report, published in the June 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, reflects a longstanding debate.
In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force ignited a controversy when it changed its recommendations on mammograms – which had long advised women to have screening every one to two years, starting at age 40.

The revised guidelines now say routine screening should begin at age 50 and be done every two years. The panel said women in he 40s should discuss the pros and cons of mammography screening with their doctors, then make an informed decision.

However, the cancer society and the American Collage of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still urge women to get yearly mammograms, starting at age 40.

Leaky Pipes May Mean Tainted Tap Water

It’s long been thought that leaks in water pipes wouldn’t pose a health threat to the water supply. But a new study suggests otherwise.

The pressure in water mains typically forces water out through any leak – preventing any contaminants from getting in. However, a British study finds that if the damage leads to a significant pressure drop, dirty water surrounding the pipe can then get sucked in through breaks.

It was believed that only clean water from the leak would be sucked into a broken pipe, and that even if contaminants were also sucked in, they would be expelled once water pressure in the pipe returned to normal.

However, a team led by engineer Joby Boxall of the University of Sheffield discovered that groundwater from around the pipe – which is often contaminated – can be sucked into and remain in the pipe. It then travels through the water supply network, they said.

“Many of us will have had [an upset] tummy in the past that we couldn’t quite explain, often putting it down to something we’d eaten,” Boxall said. “It now seems possible that some of these illnesses could have been caused not by food, but by water.”

Study co-author Richard Collins said that the new “research shows that contaminants that enter through a leaking pipe could be reaching consumer’ taps, and although this will be at very low concentrations, it would fail the safety tests if detected.”

Wisdom Wednesday: Pediatrics

Treating children is a very rewarding aspect of practice. It was my initial motivation to get rid of the clinic jacket many years ago. It just scared the kids. When they saw that jacket, they knew a shot was close behind.

Just like all new patients, you have to put children at ease in your office. Depending on the age, I try to direct the consultation toward them, not their parents. I want to hear what they have to say. I need to engage them in the conversation.

From a chiropractic standpoint, no child is too young for an adjustment. I have adjusted many infants within 24 hours of birth for birth trauma. I have treated a lot of infants with colic. Frequently, colic is a lack of proper movement of the CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) with breathing due to cranial or sacral subluxations. These are easily corrected with non-force techniques.

Children love spinal manipulation. In fact, one of the problems treating children is that they will fake injures and symptoms so they can get an adjustment. They also respond much more quickly than adults. Often patients note an immediate improvement after spinal manipulation. Kids get up off the table and invariably say “I’m fine” or “I’m all better.” Their capacity to heal and their ability to avoid injury with trauma is much greater than adults. They also do not carry the inflammatory load of metabolic syndrome like many adults.

Special Diets, Supplements Not Always Helpful for Kids with Autism

Many children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are picky eaters, and parents may direct them to nutritional supplements, or gluten- or casein-free diets.

However, the study reported June 4 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and dietetics found that these regimens leave children still deficient in some nutrients, such as calcium. On the other hand, special diets and supplements can cause children to take in excessive amounts of other nutrients, such as vitamin A, the researchers said.

“Each patient needs to be individually assessed for potential nutritional deficiencies or excess,” study lead researcher Patricia Stewart, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., said in a journal news release.

“Children with an autism spectrum disorder are not very different nutritionally form non-ASD children,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

“Giving children with an autism spectrum disorder a multivitamin/mineral supplement will not correct many of the nutritional deficiencies seen in these children,” he added, “and may in fact lead to excess amounts of some nutrients in the blood stream.”