I Finally Tried Quinoa

Posted on August 17, 2016 | Comments Off on I Finally Tried Quinoa
Not my cup o' tea

Not my cup o’ tea

Quinoa has been trendy for several years. Proponents tout its relatively high protein and fiber content. My daughter wanted to try it, so we cooked some together. She chose Giada De Laurentiis’ Herbed Quinoa recipe.

It was just OK. I doubt quinoa will ever be in my top 20 favorite recipes. If I run across it in a restaurant, I’ll try it one more time.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Even if you don’t know how to pronounce quinoa, you’ll have no trouble with 99.9% of the words in my books.

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Is Sitting the New Smoking? Not Quite

Posted on August 17, 2016 | Comments Off on Is Sitting the New Smoking? Not Quite

Click the link below and you’ll find that young adults in the United States are sedentary for 6-8 hours a day, while adults 60 or older spend 9 hours a day sedentary.

From MedicalNewsToday:

“Sedentary behavior can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions, even among people who are physically active. This is according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Sitting too much is detrimental to health, regardless of physical activity levels, say researchers.In recent years, there has been an increasing number of studies documenting the harms of sedentary behavior – defined as any waking activity that involves sitting or lying down, such as watching TV or working on the computer.

Research has repeatedly linked sedentary behavior with increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and more.A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine earlier this year estimated that prolonged sitting is responsible for 430,000 all-cause deaths over 54 countries, and a more recent study claimed that sedentary behavior is a leading risk factor for mortality, second only to smoking.”

Source: Prolonged sitting: ‘Exercise does not offset health risks,’ say AHA – Medical News Today

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Posted in Exercise

Obesity-related cancer risk increased by overweight duration

Posted on August 17, 2016 | Comments Off on Obesity-related cancer risk increased by overweight duration

MedicalNewsToday has all the details you need:

“The study found that being overweight for a longer duration as an adult significantly increased the incidence of all obesity-related cancers by 7 percent for every 10-year increase in overweight adulthood period. An increase in risk was also seen for postmenopausal breast cancer, by 5 percent, and endometrial cancer, by 17 percent.

After adjusting for the intensity of overweight – how overweight individuals were – these figures rose to 8 percent for postmenopausal breast cancer and 37 percent for endometrial cancer for every 10 years spent with BMI ten units above normal weight.

The findings highlight that the duration a woman spends overweight, and how overweight they are, play important roles in their risk of cancer, which emphasizes the importance of obesity prevention at all ages from early onset.

The authors write: “We found that longer durations of overweight and obesity were significantly associated with an increased incidence of obesity-related cancers, postmenopausal breast cancer, and colon, endometrial, and kidney cancer.”

Source: Obesity-related cancer risk increased by overweight duration – Medical News Today

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet

Two diet books in one

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Posted in Cancer

Book Readers Live Longer 

Posted on August 17, 2016 | Comments Off on Book Readers Live Longer 

P.D. Mangan has all the pertinent details:

“A recent study found an association between the reading of books and longevity. Compared to people who read no books, those who did experienced a 20% reduction in mortality.”

Source: Book Readers Live Longer – Rogue Health and Fitness

I’ve always thought my books help people live longer.

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Posted in Uncategorized

DHA, an Omega-3 Fatty Acid, Is Again Linked to Alzheimers Disease

Posted on August 13, 2016 | Comments Off on DHA, an Omega-3 Fatty Acid, Is Again Linked to Alzheimers Disease
Dead whole fish aren't very appealing to many folks

Dead whole fish aren’t very appealing to many folks

Linked in a good way.

It’s a little complicated.

DHA is an essential fatty acid. Our bodies need DHA, and certain fish are a good sources for us.

A recent small study found that people with higher levels of bloodstream DHA have less accumulation of amyloid in their brains. Amyloid deposition is a marker of Alzheimers disease. As the dementia starts and progresses, amyloid builds up in the brain. We don’t know if the amyloid is actually causing harm to brain tissue, or is simply a bystander to some other primary disease process. Some researchers think that if we can prevent amyloid build-up, we can prevent Alzheimers.

A recent MedPageToday article reviews the new study I mentioned above:

“So what’s a clinician to do? Quinn asked. “Maybe the best advice is to adhere to the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, each of which recommend eating fish two to three times per week, primarily for vascular health,” he suggested.

Source: Role for Fatty Acid Metabolism in Preclinical AD? | Medpage Today

I’ve been recommending at least that level of consumption since 2007. Follow my Advanced Mediterranean Diet or Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet and you’ll get plenty of DHA.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Fish with decent levels of DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, herring, and albacore tuna.

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I’ve Long Known That Exercise Is Powerful Medicine, But Didn’t Expect This…

Posted on August 13, 2016 | Comments Off on I’ve Long Known That Exercise Is Powerful Medicine, But Didn’t Expect This…

Physical activity improved brain function in schizophrenics:

“The researchers note that a number of previous studies have hailed exercise for its neurocognitive benefits, but that to date, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of how physical activity might affect the cognitive functioning of people with schizophrenia.

With this in mind, the team conducted a meta-analysis of 10 controlled trials involving a total of 385 individuals with schizophrenia. All trials looked at how exercise – predominantly aerobic exercise – affected patients’ cognitive functioning.

The analysis revealed that schizophrenia patients who completed around 12 weeks of aerobic exercise – alongside their usual schizophrenia treatment – had better cognitive functioning than those who did not engage in aerobic exercise.In detail, the team found aerobic exercise significantly improved the attention, social cognition – the ability to understand social situations – and working memory of individuals with schizophrenia.”

Source: Schizophrenia symptoms eased with aerobic exercise – Medical News Today

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Posted in Exercise

We’re So Confused: The Problems With Food and Exercise Studies

Posted on August 12, 2016 | Comments Off on We’re So Confused: The Problems With Food and Exercise Studies

From Gina Kolata at the New York Times:

“Nearly everything you have been told about the food you eat and the exercise you do and their effects on your health should be met with a raised eyebrow.

Dozens of studies are publicized every week. But those studies hardly slake people’s thirst for answers to questions about how to eat or how much to exercise. Does exercise help you maintain your memory? What kind? Walking? Intense exercise? Does eating carbohydrates make you fat? Can you prevent breast cancer by exercising when you are young? Do vegetables protect you from heart disease?

The problem is one of signal to noise. You can’t discern the signal — a lower risk of dementia, or a longer life, or less obesity, or less cancer — because the noise, the enormous uncertainty in the measurement of such things as how much you exercise or what exactly you eat, is overwhelming. The signal is often weak, meaning if there is an effect of lifestyle it is minuscule, nothing like the link between smoking and lung cancer, for example.”

Source: We’re So Confused: The Problems With Food and Exercise Studies – The New York Times

Gina and the experts she quotes are right about much of this.

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Mediterranean diet may slow cognitive decline, prevent Alzheimer’s 

Posted on August 10, 2016 | 2 comments

But we’ve know this for years…

“A new review concludes that a Mediterranean diet is good for the brain, after finding that people who follow the diet are less likely to experience cognitive decline and develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers say greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet may benefit cognitive function for younger and older adults.Lead author Roy Hardman, from the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and his team publish their findings in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.

The Mediterranean diet incorporates a high intake of plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, while limiting intake of red meat and replacing butter with healthy fats, such as olive oil.The diet also emphasizes eating fish or poultry at least twice a week and using herbs and spices rather than salt to flavor food.”

Source: Mediterranean diet may slow cognitive decline, prevent Alzheimer’s – Medical News Today

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Posted in Dementia

Steven Novella Says Cupping Doesn’t Work

Posted on August 10, 2016 | Comments Off on Steven Novella Says Cupping Doesn’t Work

I bet he’s right.

“Cupping is no different than acupuncture, bloodletting, phrenology, or any other medical pseudoscience. The treatment is based in pre-scientific superstitions, and has simply been rebranded to more effectively market the treatment to modern customers.

It is now just another alternative treatment, lacking plausibility, lacking any compelling evidence for efficacy, and promoted for the usual array of subjective symptoms with the usual array of handwaving justifications.

It is unfortunate that elite athletics, including the Olympics, is such a hot bed for pseudoscience. The Olympic Games are supposed to celebrate excellence, hard work, dedication, and friendly competition. Now it also represents gullibility and superstition, and spreads that gullibility to the viewing world.”

Source: Cupping – Olympic Pseudoscience « Science-Based Medicine

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A Pharmacist Asks: Should we use PCSK9 inhibitors?

Posted on August 9, 2016 | Comments Off on A Pharmacist Asks: Should we use PCSK9 inhibitors?

PCSK9 inhibitors are a new class of drug that dramatically lowers LDL cholesterol. LDL is the “bad cholesterol” implicated in blocked arteries that cause heart attacks and strokes. PCSK9 inhibitors are injected every several weeks. They are expensive.

Pharmacist Catherine writes:

“We know this drug lowers LDL cholesterol.  But what we really care about (or should care about) is whether this medication lowers the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.  This data isn’t yet available.   From what data I could easily access, it seems that the PCSK9 inhibitors can halve your risk of having heart attack over one year.  This might sound good, but when you look at actual numbers, not so good.  Of the ~4500 people studied, about 2% in the control group had an ‘event’ (heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event) compared to about 1% in the treatment group.  And the difference between the groups was only about 60 people.  The study size just simply isn’t big enough, nor has it run for long enough to really tell if these medications are worth it.  A bigger study is in progress, but we won’t get the results before 2017.   Even then, we may not have the long-term risk/benefit data.  A systematic review on the medications in 2014 concluded that there is currently insufficient data to show benefit.”

Source: Should we use PCSK9 inhibitors? | Lifestyle Before Medication

I also want to know the effect of these drugs on death rates. As they say, “more studies are needed.”

Hey, guess what? The Mediterranean diet prevents heart attacks and strokes, and extends lifespan.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet

Two diet books in one

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Posted in Coronary Heart Disease, Heart Disease, Stroke