QualityCounts.com Newsletter of 12/12/01

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Health sites granted seal of approval - MSNBC, 12/12/01 - "The 13 sites granted the [American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (URAC)] seal are A.D.A.M., American Specialty Health Networks, Veritas Medicine, Group Health Incorporated, HAYES, Inc., WebMD, VHA, WellMed, InteliHealth, the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), HealthHelp, Health International and Healthwise" - Note: I've provided links to these sites at the bottom of my "Favorites" page

Triglycerides May Be Stroke Indicator - Intelihealth, 12/11/01 - "heart patients who have high levels of these fatty particles in their blood run a higher risk of a stroke, even if their cholesterol is low ... this study is the first to identify triglycerides as an independent risk factor for stroke ... The lesson from our study is, in addition to managing well the bad cholesterol, one should not ignore the triglycerides ... Those with high levels of triglycerides, or over 200 milligrams per deciliter, had a nearly 30 percent higher risk of stroke. The heart association says the normal level for triglycerides is less than 150"

Many Women Unaware of Brittle Bones - WebMD, 12/11/01 - "A new study shows that close to half of all women past menopause are unaware that their bones are steadily weakening and becoming brittle, putting them at risk of dangerous fractures ... affects half of all women over the age of 45, and 90% of women over age 75 ... a hip fracture, commonly caused by osteoporosis, kills its victim about 20% of the time"

Vitamin C Reverses Impaired Endothelial Function in Cardiomyopathy - Medscape, 12/10/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "When vitamin C was infused there was an 11% to 15% dose-dependent increase in cross-sectional diameter, and average peak velocity increased by a minimum of 20% to a maximum of 41% (p < 0.05). Coronary blood flow also increased after vitamin C infusion from a minimum of 38% (p < 0.01) to a maximum of 82% (p < 0.001) ... endothelial dysfunction of the coronary arteries in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is not caused by NO, but by increased inactivation of NO by oxygen free radicals"

Secrets to Aging Gracefully - WebMD, 12/10/01 - "the happiest respondents had minor physical disabilities. They had regular social activities, could still think and reason well, and had an overall feeling of well-being -- and those were important to staying happy. In many cases, they were able to keep up socially because they had spent a lot of time cultivating relationships with friends and family when they were younger, and such investments in their time paid big dividends in terms of avoiding depression and staying vital later in life"

Vegetarian diet on solid ground, experts say - USA Today, 12/7/01 - "McDougall points to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine that looked at Seventh-Day Adventists in California, a group made up mostly of vegetarians. The 12-year of study of 34,192 people found that on average, group members lived 10 years longer than the general population ... Vegetarians have a 40% less risk of cancer and much less risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and other problems that are common among meat eaters"

Single enzyme to blame for potbellies: study - MSNBC, 12/6/01 - "What they found was that a single enzyme in fat cells that raises levels of cortisol — the “fight or flight” stress hormone — triggers fat accumulation around the belly and its associated ill effects ... The researchers were drawn to the role of cortisol because patients with a rare illness known as Cushing syndrome — who have too much of the steroid hormone in their blood — develop severe obesity concentrated around their middles and become diabetic ... Since overweight people without Cushing syndrome typically don’t have too much cortisol in their bloodstreams, Flier hypothesized that they may be producing high cortisol levels solely in their fat cells — possibly because the enzyme HSD-1, which makes cortisol from an inactive molecule, is overactive ... The level of cortisol in their stomach fat tissue was 15 percent to 30 percent higher than in their non-engineered counterparts" - Note: The way I read this article, the final culprit is still the cortisol. See my cortisol page for ways to reduce it. A good article on that page is Muscle Breakdown: Is Cortisol Leading You Down the Catabolic Pathway?.

Enzyme may be target for obesity drug - CNN, 12/6/01 - "If this was happening, it would explain why some obese people have the extra abdominal fat without extra cortisol in their blood"

Thiamine Deficiency Explains Many Dialysis-Related Encephalopathy Cases - Medscape, 12/6/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "Our study indicates that thiamine deficiency is common in dialysis patients ... Clinical evaluation of dialysis patients with encephalopathy or acutely altered consciousness should include the possibility of thiamine deficiency. This condition is fatal if unrecognized and can be successfully treated with prompt thiamine replacement"

Green tea polyphenols inhibit prostate cancer in mouse model - Life Extension Magazine, 12/01 - "According to study findings published in the August 28, 2001 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [PNAS 2001 Aug;98(18):10350-10355], green tea polyphenols—the equivalent found in about six cups of green tea per day in humans—helped to significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer in a mouse model"