Other News
Health news and comment from around the world.
February 15, 2012
Vitamin D deficiency linked to speech problems
New research has found a link between vitamin D deficiencies in pregnant women and speech difficulties in children. The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth found children whose mothers have low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are twice as likely to have language problems.
Read article abc.net.au (Australia)
February 13, 2012
Omega-3 fatty acid on trial: Study to evaluate long-term effects on intelligence, behaviour
University of Kansas researchers John Colombo and Susan Carlson have been awarded $2.5 million for the next five years of a 10-year, double-blind randomized controlled trial to determine whether prenatal nutritional supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acid DHA benefits children’s intelligence and school readiness. “The possibility that DHA may have long-term benefits for cognitive-intellectual development, particularly on measures that predict school achievement, would have enormous implications for public policy on prenatal nutrition,” said Susan Carlson, A. J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
February 7, 2012
Vitamin D deficiency high among trauma patients
New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that 77 percent of trauma patients had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
February 7, 2012
Low vitamin D status linked to food allergy and eczema in children: Study
Below normal levels of vitamin D, due to low sun exposure, have been associated with increased incidence of food allergy and eczema in children, say researchers.
Read article at nutraingredients.com
February 7, 2012
44 percent of postmenopausal women with distal radius fracture have low levels of vitamin D
Wrist fractures, also called distal radius fractures (DRF), are among the most common osteoporosis-related fractures occurring on average 15 years earlier than hip fractures. As vitamin D deficiency has recently been linked with muscle weakness, increased fall risks, and bone fractures, investigators sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among post menopausal women with DRF. The study, "Hypovitaminosis D in Postmenopausal Women with a Distal Radius Fracture," was presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Read article at medicalxpress.com
February 1, 2012
Pesticides Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency
Pesticides could be suppressing vitamin D levels in people, leading to deficiency and disease, say scientists. This comes from a new study which discovered that adults with high serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides, such as DDT, have lower vitamin D levels, further proving that these chemicals have a long-lasting impact on human health.
Read article on the ENews Park Forest website (Illinois, USA)
January 27, 2012
England’s chief medical officer backs (free) vitamin D supplements
England’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies has begun campaigning to the English medical fraternity that certain population groups like under-5s should take vitamin D supplements.
Read article at nutraingredients.com
Comment: Following research showing rising rates of rickets among British children, it is significant that England’s chief medical officer has finally begun recommending that not only youngsters, but also the elderly and pregnant and breastfeeding women, should take daily vitamin D supplements. Notably, she has also specifically stated that lower income groups would have free access to them. However, despite this promising development, it should not be forgotten that vitamin D deficiency is now a worldwide problem affecting all age groups. In the United States, Canada and throughout the EU, for example, deficiencies of the vitamin are now widespread. Elsewhere in the world, the problem is no less serious. Pregnant Arab women have an "extraordinarily high prevalence" of vitamin D deficiency, whilst India is also now home to a growing epidemic of deficiencies in this nutrient. Even Australia, a land with plentiful sunshine and an outdoor lifestyle, now has a “mind-boggling” rate of vitamin D deficiencies, with some research suggesting nearly one third of the country’s adults are deficient in it and around three quarters have levels below those considered optimal for musculoskeletal health.
January 26, 2012
Call for vitamin D infant death probe
Two senior paediatric pathologists say they have discovered vitamin D deficiency in a significant number of children who have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The doctors say that vitamin D deficiency and associated diseases such as the bone disease rickets could potentially explain deaths and injuries that are often thought to be suspicious. And they fear that children with such deficiencies may have been taken away from their parents and placed in foster care for no good reason.
Read article on the BBC News website (UK)
January 24, 2012
A quarter of UK toddlers are lacking Vitamin D
A quarter of all toddlers in the UK are lacking Vitamin D, according to research. Vitamin D supplements are recommended for those people at risk of deficiency, including all pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five, and the elderly, but 74% of parents know nothing about them and more than half of healthcare professionals are also unaware, the BBC said.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
January 23, 2012
Big Tobacco led throat doctors to blow smoke
Tobacco companies conducted a carefully crafted, decades-long campaign to manipulate throat doctors into helping to calm concerns among an increasingly worried public that smoking might be bad for their health, according to a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine. Beginning in the 1920s, this campaign continued for over half of a century.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
Comment: Just as tobacco companies once sought to exploit the faith the public had in the medical profession as a means of reassuring their customers that their products were safe, the reality is that, today, the multi-trillion dollar pharmaceutical industry is doing exactly the same thing. For anybody who doubts that any industry would value profits more highly than health and unscrupulously continue to promote its products despite knowing them to be dangerous, the fact that tobacco companies have done this for decades – and denied, suppressed and ignored the overwhelming scientific evidence – provides a useful reminder that such industries exist.
January 16, 2012
Vitamin D deficiency strikes one-third of Australians
Nearly one third of Australian adults are suffering vitamin D deficiency according to a study involving more than 11,000 adults from around the country.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
January 16, 2012
Healthy brain wiring in adults depends on iron levels in adolescence, study
A lack of iron in childhood can affect the physical structure of the brain, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Read article at nutraingredients-usa.com
January 12, 2012
Banks profit on hunger
European banks, pension funds and insurance companies are increasing global hunger and poverty by speculating on food prices and financing land grabs in poorer countries, according to Farming Money, a new report just released.
Read article on the Corporate Europe Observatory website
January 12, 2012
Chemical found in deodorants, face cream and food products is discovered in tumours of ALL breast cancer patients
A chemical widely used as a preservative in cosmetics, food products and pharmaceuticals has been found in tissue samples from 40 women with breast cancer. A number of studies since 1998 have raised concerns about the potential role of these parabens in breast cancer as they possess oestrogenic properties. Oestrogen is known to play a central role in the development, growth and progression of breast cancer.
Read article in the Daily Mail (UK)
January 11, 2012
Child leukaemia doubles near French nuclear plants: study
The incidence of leukemia is twice as high in children living close to French nuclear power plants as in those living elsewhere in the country, a study by French health and nuclear safety experts has found.
Read news report at reuters.com
January 8, 2012
As he turns 70, Stephen Hawking's longevity with ALS a mystery
CAMBRIDGE, England – British scientist Stephen Hawking has decoded some of the most puzzling mysteries of the universe, but he has left one mystery unsolved: How has he managed to survive so long with such a crippling disease? The physicist and cosmologist was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease – also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS – when he was 21. Most people die within a few years of the diagnosis. Today, Hawking turns 70.
Read article on the Detroit Free Press website (USA)
Comment: It is notable that, at a time when the world's media has been preoccupied with asking how Professor Hawking has managed to survive almost half a century with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a particularly illuminating article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2002 is effectively being ignored. Asked by the BMJ whether he knew why the progression of his illness had been so unlike that of most other sufferers, Hawking said he suspects ALS is “a syndrome that can have different causes”, adding that perhaps his variety “is due to bad absorption of vitamins.” Significantly, therefore, the BMJ article added that Hawking supplements his diet with a wide variety of vitamin and mineral supplements on a daily basis – a regime he has reportedly (p. 96) followed since the latter half of the 1960s.
January 10, 2012
70 percent of Europeans suffer from low vitamin D levels
A group of experts has prepared a report on vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women after it was revealed that Europeans have suffered an alarming decrease in their levels of this vitamin.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
January 6, 2012
Europeans do not achieve fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations: EUFIC
The majority of European consumers do not attain the fruit and vegetable intake levels recommended by the Wold Health Organisation, according to the European Food Information Council (EUFIC).
Read article at foodnavigator.com
Comment: Far from being limited to Europeans, low fruit and vegetable intake is a worldwide problem. Notably therefore, in the United States, it is estimated that there are not enough fresh fruits and vegetables being produced for Americans to meet even the basic US recommended daily amounts (RDAs) for micronutrient intake. As such, considering the fact that the micronutrient content of our food has fallen substantially over the past few decades, both in the United States and worldwide, it is clear that national nutrition and healthcare policies urgently need to be revised to promote widespread dietary supplementation.
January 5, 2012
Low vitamin D levels linked to depression, psychiatrists report
Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to depression, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatrists working with the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study.
Read article at medicalxpress.com
January 2, 2012
Osteoporosis to cost €38.5bn in Europe's 'big 5' by 2025
The healthcare costs of rising European osteoporosis rates will reach €38.5bn by 2025 from €30.7bn in 2010, according to a study that reflected on the problem of an increasingly aged population.
Read article at nutraingredients.com
Comment: Preliminary research carried out in the United States has already shown how the widespread use of supplements containing micronutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3 could improve the health of Americans and save over $24b in healthcare. Ultimately, however, the potential healthcare savings that will accrue from the creation of a new global healthcare system, based on scientific breakthroughs in the areas of vitamin research and cellular health, could amount to literally trillions of dollars. To help promote life-saving information about micronutrients and science-based natural health as the foundation for an affordable system of health care, please support the World Health Alphabetization campaign.
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