Chemicals Found in Many U.S. Streams

The mixture of pollutants in many U.S. streams are more complicated and potentially more dangerous than previously thought, a new study suggests.

Researchers checked for 719 organic chemicals in water samples from 38 streams across the United States and found more than half of those chemicals in the different samples.

Every stream – even those in wild and uninhabited areas – had at least one of the chemicals and some had as many as 162, the study found. It was led by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The detected chemicals included: insecticides and herbicides, along with byproducts from their degradation; antibacterials such as triclosan; and medications such as antihistamines and the diabetes drug metformin.

Some of the chemicals were often detected together in streams. Further research is needed to determine the potential for complex interactions between these chemicals, to assess if they pose a threat to aquatic life, the food chain and human health the researchers said.

Wisdom Wednesday: Don’t Bank on Heart-Rate Accuracy from Your Activity Tracker

Wrist-worn activity trackers such as Fitbit don’t reliably assess heart rate, a new study finds.

While the devices may have some legitimate benefits, they shouldn’t be used for medical purposes, researchers suggest.

Evaluating four wearable activity trackers for Fitbit, Basis, and Mio, the investigators compared results to those from an electrocardiograph (EKG). The researchers found results varied among the different models, and were much less accurate during exercise than at rest.

“These devices are probably good enough to inform consumers of general trends in their heart rate – high or low – [but] it’s important to have more accurate information when physicians are relying on this data to make decisions on medications or other tests and treatments,” said Dr. Mitesh Patel.

Patel is an assistant professor of medicine and health care management at the University of Pennsylvania. He wasn’t involved in the study.

However, the study’s lead author cautions against making too much of the discrepancies. “At any moment, the tracker could be off by a fair bit. But at most moments, it won’t be,” said Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “The heart-rate feature performed better at rest,” she said. “They’re not as precise during exercise.”

A 2014 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 20% of American adults owned a wearable activity tracker.

Kidney Disease a Big Contributor to Heart-Related Deaths

Based on data from 188 countries at six time points between 1990 and 2013, the researchers estimated that in 2013, reduced kidney function was associated with 4% of deaths worldwide, or 2.2 million deaths.

More than half of these deaths (1.2 million) were heart-related, while nearly 1 million were caused by kidney failure, according to the report.

The findings provide new insight into the significant impact of kidney disease, also called “renal” disease, and highlight the importance of screening for kidney problems, the study authors said. “Understanding the true health impact of kidney disease on society necessitates considering cardiovascular as well as end-stage renal disease deaths and disability,” said Dr. Bernadette Thomas, of the University of Washington in Seattle. She made her remarks in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology.

The investigators also found that reduced kidney function ranked below high blood pressure, high blood sugar and overweight/obesity, but was similar to high cholesterol, as a risk factor for disability-adjusted life years (the number of years lost due to ill health, disability or early death).

Prolonged Antibiotic Use Tied to Precancerous Colon Growths

Taking antibiotics for an extended period in early to middle adulthood might increase your risk for precancerous growths in your colon, a large study suggests.

Women who took antibiotics for two weeks or more in their 20s through their 50s were more likely to have colon lesions in their 60s than women who didn’t take the drugs for an extended period, researchers found. If not removed, these lesions, called polyps or adenomas, can lead to colon cancer.

“This suggests that alterations in the naturally occurring bacteria that live in one’s intestines caused by antibiotics might predispose individuals to colorectal cancer,” said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Chan.

Through the study was limited to women, the link likely also holds true for men, Chan said. “More research needs to be done to understand the interaction between alterations in one’s gut bacteria and future risk of colorectal cancer,” he said.

Antibiotics disrupt the diversity and number of bacteria in the gut, or “microbiome.” They also reduce resistance to toxic bacteria. All of this might play a role in the development of precancerous growths, Chan said.

For the report, Chan and his colleagues collected data on the more than 16,600 women 60 and older who took part in the Nurses Health Study.

The women provided a history of antibiotic use between ages 20 and 59. They also had had at least one colonoscopy between 2004 and 2010. Nearly 1,200 precancerous polyps in the colon were found during that time.

Wisdom Wednesday: What You Need to Know About Cholesterol

Cholesterol plays a vital role in your health, so it’s important to understand the different types of cholesterol and how to influence their levels, a heart specialist says.

‘Good cholesterol – high density lipoprotein (HDL) – recycles cholesterol and fat in the body,” said Dr. Alex Garton. He’s a noninvasive cardiologist from Pinnacle Health Cardiovascular Institute, based in central Pennsylvania.

“What we call bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), is ‘bad’ because any leftover LDL is deposited into the blood vessels, increasing the risk of vascular disease. HDL can help prevent this by ‘recycling’ excess amounts of bad cholesterol,” Garton explained in an institute news release.

Total cholesterol can be deceiving, so it’s important to know the levels of both your bad cholesterol and good cholesterol.

LDL levels should generally be kept below 130 mg/dL of blood. But a level of 100 mg/dL is considered “optimal.” The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says.

HDL levels should be above 40 mg/dL, the NHLBI says. And, levels above 60 mg/dL are even better.

But cholesterol levels are only part of the overall picture, Garton said.

“Smoking cigarettes, having high blood pressure or having a family history of early heart disease can also increase a patient’s cholesterol-related risks. These factors actually lower the LDL cholesterol number that signifies a patient is at risk for heart disease,” he said.

A Surprising Culprit Behind Celiac Disease?

A typically harmless type of virus might sometimes trigger celiac disease, a new study suggests.

Celiac disease is caused by an abnormal immune response to the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, rye and barley. The condition damages the lining of the small intestine, and the only effective treatment is a gluten-free diet.

The new study found that when mice were infected with particular strains of a common human intestinal reovirus, their immune system could not tolerate gluten.

Patients with celiac disease also had much higher levels of antibodies against reoviruses than those without the autoimmune disease, the researchers said.

“This study clearly shows that a virus that is not clinically symptomatic can still do bad things to the immune system and set the stage for an autoimmune disorder, and for celiac disease in particular,” said senior study author Dr. Bana Jabri. She is director of research at the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Center.

“However, the specific virus and its genes, the interaction between the microbe and the host, and the health status of the host are all going to matter as well,” Jabri added in a university news release.

The findings were published April 7 in the journal Science.

My Take:
The trigger for the immune system response in autoimmune disease can be a protein or carbohydrate. Viruses are nothing more than a simple protein. They have a specific amino acid sequence and as little as five linked amino acids will trigger and immune response. The small size of viruses makes it easier for them to slip through the gut lining to stimulate that immune response.

Is Surgery Always Necessary for Gallstones?

Gallstone pancreatitis occurs when one on more gallstones gets stuck in a duct in the pancreas. This blocks pancreatic enzymes from leaving the pancreas and traveling to the small intestine to aid in digestion. When those enzymes back up into the pancreas, it causes inflammation and pain according to the American College of Gastroenterology.

The standard treatment is to remove the gallbladder within 30 days to prevent a recurrence, researchers said.

The study included information on more than 17,000 cases of gallstone pancreatitis in the United States. All occurred between 2010 and 2011. The patients all had private insurance and were under the age of 65.

Seventy-eight percent of the patients had their gallbladders removed within the recommended 30 days of their initial hospitalization. Less than 10% of those patients returned to the hospital with pancreatitis, the study found.

Of the more than 3,700 patients who didn’t have their gallbladder removed within 30 days, about 1,200 had their gallbladder removed within six months. But nearly 2,500 patients who didn’t have their gallbladder removed within 30 days had still not undergone the surgery four years later.

It’s not clear why some patients who didn’t initially undergo gallbladder removal had pancreatitis recurrences while others did not. More research is needed to find the answers, according to the study authors.