Massive Food Recall In UK May Have Spread To China

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Tuesday, March 22 2005

Here in the USA, some important headlines sometimes don't get much airtime... but this news is recent, so maybe it takes time to trickle down to the western media outlets?

Sudan 1 to IV are classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and are banned under European Union rules.

Sudan 1 is a chemical red dye, and prior to 2003 could be found in many ingredients including, salsa, chili sauces, and the like.

Last month it was detected in Worcester sauce manufactured by Premier Foods and several other food products the company produces which prompted one of the largest food recalls in UK history.

Premier Foods informed shareholders on Feb. 24, 2005 that its Branston Hot and Spicy Sweet Pickle and Branston Rich and Fruity Sauce are "at once" being recalled from the shelves.

The news came a few days after the firm set off a chain recall reaction of over 420 well-known processed foods, many of which used the same chili sauce ingredient (which contained the illegal dye) as the one used to produce their Worcestershire sauce.

Used as both a tabletop sauce and food ingredient, the discovery prompted the UK's Food Standards Agency to take immediate action and pull all related products, such as Sainsburys pork sausages and Tesco's chicken and vegetable casserole, out of the consumers' reach.

According to the news in the UK, companies had up to Feb. 24, 2005 to recall products containing the illegal red dye or face prosecution.

"It is their legal responsibility to be checking their foods and to then come to us with any new information on contaminated food products," a spokesperson for the FSA stated to the press.

Food companies failing to do so face prosecution.

That's just the tip of the ice burg. There was a recent report that the problem may have also spread to China with reports that international food maker Heinz has called back chilli sauces and chilli oils that may contain the harmful, and illegal, red dye.

Now... I have to ask... have any similar products been checked here in the USA and Canada?

We'll be watching this story unfold.

Be sure to stay in the loop and subscribe to BLV News.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Update On "Attack On Health Supplements"

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Saturday, March 19 2005

Back on Feb. 14, 2005 we reported the information about the new regulations targeted against supplement suppliers. As a refresher, here's an excerpt from that article:

"Efforts are underway right now to classify essential vitamins, herbs, minerals, and enzymes as pharmaceutical drugs, putting them under rigorous government regulation and control. Eventually these natural products would be manufactured from synthetic materials and available only by prescription."

August of 2005 is the original target date when the Directive on Dietary Supplements (legislation that was introduced by a U.N.-sponsored commission) was slated to go into effect in the European Union (EU). Starting in August, vitamin and herbal supplements in Europe will have to be "proven safe and effective" before they can be sold to the public. This will result in a ban on nearly 300 vitamin and mineral ingredients (many of which are in the same form as those found in food) and the removal of some 5,000 products from the market.

This is all part of the World Health Organization's new CODEX ALIMENTARIUS (Food Code - more commonly referred to as just CODEX) set to regulate all countries associated with W.H.O. ...which also includes -- you guessed it -- the good ol' USA. Those countries who fail to comply to the new laws in August can be subject to trade sanctions.

CODEX already applies to Norway and Germany, among others, where zinc tablets rose from $4 per bottle to $52. Echinacea (an ancient immune-enhancement herb) rose from $14 to $153 (both examples are now allowed by prescription only). They are now drugs! Vitamin C above 200mg, niacin above 32mg, vitamin B6 above 4mg are banned over-the-counter. No amino acids (arginine, lysine, camitine etc = essential amino acids!), essential fatty acids (omegas 3, 6, 9, etc), or other essential supplements such as DMEA, DHEA, CoQ10, MSM, beta-carotene, etc, are allowed.

Well, some British consumers might be very relieved to know about a recent article that hit the UK newswires last week:

--------------- copy -------------

"Health Claims Amendment Offers Industry New Opt-out Hopes From Supplement Directive"

11/03/2005 - An amendment to the nutrition and health claims regulation currently being discussed by members of the European parliament could give Britain an opt-out clause to the food supplements directive being enforced across the EU from August this year, reports Dominique Patton.

Industry and consumer campaign groups in the UK continue to fight the introduction of the EU food supplements directive to protect numerous products that contain ingredients not on the list approved by the new law.

One of the largest food supplement markets in Europe, the UK's industry also fears that permitted dosages of vitamins and minerals will be significantly lower under the directive than currently allowed on the market.

Opponents of the directive have mounted a sizeable campaign against it, bringing their case to the European court of justice at the beginning of the year.

But as they wait for the results of the hearing, not expected until June, campaigners have seen new hopes in a recent move by a Conservative member of the European Parliament, involved in discussions on the nutritional and health claims regulation.

MEP John Bowis has tabled an amendment to the proposed law in the form of two new clauses, which would allow supplements containing ingredients or dosages not permitted under the new directive to remain on the market where they had previously been available up to July 2002 provided they conform to the claims regulation.

Although the Conservatives are the largest British party in the EU, the amendment would need the support of both Labour and Lib-Dem MEPs to succeed.

--------------- end copy -------------

What about the USA? Thus far we have not heard of anyone standing up in Congress to support the supplement industry and prevent the W.H.O. from potentially taking away our access to products we know, trust, and use on a daily basis... but we're still searching for more data to find out what is being done here.

Keep in mind, the CODEX rules are not based on real science. They are made by a few people meeting in secret ... not necessarily scientists ... and many are said to have ties to the drug industry who are said to make rather large profits from the new laws if they do go into effect.

To learn more look at these websites:
www.ahha.org,
www.iahf.com,
and www.alliance-natural-health.org.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Australia to Assess Herbal Ingredients and Claims

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Saturday, March 19 2005

In a recent news release at NeutraIngredients Europe (11/03/2005) the announcement came out: "Herbal medicines on the Australian market may need to be reformulated after the government’s decision this week to back a wave of expert recommendations to tighten scrutiny of the complementary medicines sector."

The Australian government said it has backed most of the 49 recommendations from the Expert Committee on Complementary Medicines in the Health System, which was formed following the April 2003 recall of more than 1,600 products, many of them supplements, manufactured by Pan Pharmaceuticals.

The recommendations, published 18 months ago, include the introduction of quality standards for all ingredients used in herbal and complementary medicines, and new guidelines to verify claims made by companies.

“The complementary medicines industry is estimated to be worth over $800 million per year so it is vital that Australians feel confident in the industry and its products,” said Australia’s health secretary Christopher Pyne.

The government's response to the report said the toughest option would result in many products being reformulated or relabelled, or even removed from the market.

The report said that complementary medicines "typically contain a larger number of ingredients than prescription or over-the-counter medicines”.

"Consequently, the identification of a particular ingredient as a potential cause of an adverse reaction is often far more difficult in a complementary medicine."

Under the recommendations, any ingredients suspected of causing foetal abnormalities will be banned from use other than in complementary products subject to the same scrutiny as that given to prescription drugs.

Among the positive points for industry, the medicines authority the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has also been asked to draw up a stakeholder group to identify incentives to encourage innovation and research in complementary medicines, including data protection and market exclusivity.

A database will be established to identify researchers and centers of excellence to carry out complementary medicines research in Australia and there will also be action to create greater awareness among all health professionals and consumers of the potential for complementary medicines to interact with other medicines.

The government’s response to the recommendations are published on the TGA website. (pdf format)

Important Sidenote: It's important to know when shopping for supplements that many herbal ingredients used come in 3 different grades --- pharmaceutical grade (the highest grade which our manufacturer uses for all products offered here at Best Liquid Vitamins) --- food grade --- and vetrinary grade. Do you know what grade of ingredients you are getting when you purchase supplements elsewhere?

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Atkins Nutritionals Is Leaving The UK

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Saturday, March 19 2005

Atkins Nutritionals, the company behind the trendy low-carb diet, is closing its operations in the UK, in a move that seems to herald the end of its presence in Europe and signal an upturn for carbohydrate-rich foods, writes Dominique Patton in a recent article published by NutriIngredients.

The UK is Atkins’ biggest European market but despite a survey last year that claimed more than 3 million Britons have tried the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, most are thought to have had difficulty in sticking to the regime.

The firm has also been hit by competition from low-carb variants of established brands, with several leading food manufacturers reducing carbohydrate content in some of their best-selling products.

Research carried out by Reuters last year suggested that over a quarter of food and drink companies in the UK, Europe and US were actively investing in research and development of new products.

The UK market for low-carb products has also been affected by sustained media scrutiny of the Atkins diet, said to lack long-term safety data.

David Jago, director of Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), has long predicted that the low-carb trend would merely be a fad. Consumers will be more interested in balanced, healthy eating this year than extreme dieting, he forecast in January.

And despite a flurry of new low-carb launches towards the end of 2004, food formulators are already looking at the follow-up to Atkins, foods with a low-glycaemic index.

Administrators are to be appointed to Atkins Nutritionals UK, which sells more than 20 products for people following the eating plan, sources told the UK press yesterday.

Atkins UK’s fate is preceded by job cuts and a restructuring drive at the firm’s headquarters in the US, launched midway through 2004. At the time, the UK division’s chief executive Roger Spicer said that sales were ‘buoyant’ with ‘no signs of a downward trend’.

Other sources suggest however that the firm has been making a loss for some time.

Source: NutraIngredients/Europe

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Weightloss Headlines - Whole foods needed to stop malnutrition

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Saturday, March 19 2005

Patricia McPeak, CEO of NutraCea, was asked to sit on the California obesity-prevention committee late last year... and she has some pretty strong ...some say controversial... opinions on the subject.

McPeak believes that the main problem faced by the US because of its eating habits is malnutrition.

"I have dicovered that obesity is a disease of malnutrition and that we need to nourish the body back to health, not starve it," she told NutraIngredientsUSA last December.

McPeak believes that the best way of nourishing the body is to feed it whole foods and whole food supplements, not empty calories in the form of processed foods.

Whole foods particularly grains, are known to contain a mix of naturally occurring antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein, very similar to fruit and vegetables.

She is an enthusiastic advocate of raw fruit and vegetables and does not believe that GM ingredient should be used because of the lack of clarity as to what they contain.

Moreover, she thinks it is down to the consumer to show an interest in what he/she is eating as she doubts that the big food companies, US institutions or media are likely to demand enough research - in her eyes - into, for example, GM crops.

"We need to be more concerned about our food and take more reponsibility for our health," she said.

She remains hopeful that there is the will in the USA to improve its diet and at the same time its health. Recent studies and survey results from grocery store consumers tend to confirm this might be true...

In the survey of primary grocery shoppers carried out by the Grocery Manufacturers of America, 73 percent of respondents said they were buying more nutritious and healthy foods and beverages than in the past.

America is waking up to the fact that we all need to be eating (and drinking) smarter, ...and studies suggest more and more of us are searching out quality ...going for value instead of letting cheaper priced and/or lesser quality foods and supplements fool them into believing they are improving their diets.

"Vitamin C Enriched" and/or "Vitamin C Added" does not carry the same value to educated consumers any longer.

The educated consumer prefers to look for "whole food Vitamin C sources" in the fruits, vegetables and supplements they buy.

These same consumers recognize and appreciate the positive difference between a small goji berry (that has 5 times the amount of Vitamin C by weight than oranges) and how it brings with it a wide range of healthy phytonutrients and molecules from which you simply can't get the same synergistic results when they are in synthetic isolated forms.

An interesting sidenote: our Goji Juice, one of the few non-pasteurized 100% juice products available, has been proven (by third party independent clinical studies) to help reduce weight in addition to a host of other health-promoting benefits (ask us for the 34 proven health benefits).

Perhaps McPeak is on the right track with her theories. In any case, we wish her well in her efforts to educate and inspire our nation towards making better diet choices.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Whole Grains Council Officially Launched Its New Food Stamp

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Saturday, March 19 2005

The Whole Grains Council Officially Launched Its New Food Stamp

The Whole Grains Council yesterday launched its food stamp to the general public at the Natural Foods Expo West show taking place in Anaheim. (March 2005 Show)

There are three versions of the black and gold stamp:

1) the "good source" stamp for foods containing a half serving of whole grains (8g)

2) the "excellent source" stamp goes on products offering a full serving of whole grains (16g)

3) and the third level – "excellent Source / 100%" – is for foods with a full serving of whole grains and containing no refined grains.

But here's an interesting fact:

The goji berry, which is considered to be the most nutritionally dense food on the planet, contains 13% more protein than even whole wheat.

See http://www.bestliquidvitamins.com/gojijuice.html for details.

Our topselling product, Goji Jucie, is 100% juice - and contains over 2.2 pounds of pure sweet goji berry juice in every bottle... yet, you won't find the new grain label on the bottle.

The new label is reserved for grain products.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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The benefits of soy beans may finally be explained

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Friday, March 18 2005

The medicinal benefits of soybeans may finally be explained in on ongoing study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study is investigating the effect of chemicals in the soy plant, isoflavones, in reducing hypertension in menopausal women. Another two-year study is examining the effect of these same soy isoflavones on osteoporosis in menopausal women.

"There doesn't appear to be any downside to soy," said Dr. Addison Taylor, professor of medicine at BCM. "We should have some idea at the end of the study on how much soy isoflavones lower blood pressure and also on the ways in which this effect occurs."

BCM researchers are particularly interested in isoflavones that are part of a group of chemicals called phytoestrogens, which are abundant in soy plants, because they may lower blood pressure. Taylor and his colleagues are examining the effect of isoflavones on the production of nitric oxide, a substance made by blood vessels that reduces the tendency of blood to clot.

The six-week trial will administer enriched isoflavones to patients, who will undergo monitoring of blood pressure for an entire 24-hour period. Patients will be equipped with an automatic device that will measure blood flow using an elastic armband filled with mercury.

"It will give us a better idea as to whether this beneficial effect persists through the whole 24 hours or is confined to just certain parts of the day or night," said Taylor, a co-investigator of the study headed by Dr. William Wong, professor of pediatrics at BCM and researcher at the Children's Nutrition Research Center. "It will also allow us to determine what role nitric oxide production is playing."

Isoflavone has long been believed by some members of the scientific community to ward off health problems associated with aging, such as hot flashes in menopausal women; but limited empirical data have prevented physicians from recommending its use. However, concerns about conventional estrogen replacement therapy, based on its connection to an increased risk of breast cancer, have compelled many women to consider "natural" alternatives such as soy.

Taylor is still actively recruiting study participants. Healthy menopausal women with blood pressures between 130/80 and 160/100 who are not taking hypertensive medication may call 713-798-6783 for enrollment information.

Source: Baylor College Of Medicine

Have you tried our "Ultimate Soy Miracle" products yet? They are YUMMY!

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Fun Facts: Taste Buds

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Friday, March 18 2005

Why do brussels sprouts taste bitterly repellent to one person and bland - or even delicious - to the next?

A study published in the February 22 issue of Current Biology confirms the influential role of genetics in determining the wide range of human sensitivity to taste, ultimately impacting how we each perceive the world in a slightly different way.

"Each human carries their own distinctive set of taste receptors which gives them a unique perception of how foods and medicines taste," explains Monell Chemical Senses Center psychophysicist Paul Breslin, PhD, who shares first authorship and is a corresponding contributor for the study.

"This paper shows that a single gene codes for multiple forms of a taste receptor, with each form having a differing sensitivity to taste compounds. Further, a person's perceptual sensitivity to these bitter tasting compounds corresponds strikingly well with their genetically-determined receptor sensitivity."

In the paper, researchers at the Monell Center and collaborating institutions related individual perception of the bitter-tasting compounds PTC and PROP to variation in a bitter taste receptor gene known as hTAS2R38.

The researchers cloned two forms (haplotypes) of the hTAS2R38 gene and expressed the corresponding receptors in a cell culture. The two haplotypes, known as PAV and AVI, vary with respect to amino acid substitutions encoded at certain positions on the taste receptor protein.

In the cell culture experiments, small amounts of the bitter compounds activated cells expressing the PAV form of the receptor, whereas cells expressing the AVI form were unresponsive to the same compounds. Cells expressing other haplotypes (eg PVI, AAI or AAV) had intermediate sensitivity to the bitter compounds.

Other experiments examined bitterness perception in human subjects. People with the PAV form of the hTAS2R38 gene were most sensitive to the bitter taste of PROP and PTC. Subjects homozygous for the AVI haplotype were 100 to 1000 times less sensitive to bitter taste of the two compounds, confirming the lack of response in the cell culture experiment. These data implicate the responsive PAV haplotype as a major determinant of sensitivity to the bitter taste of PROP and PTC in humans.

"These data answer a long-standing question about why humans differ in their ability to taste some bitter compounds," explains study co-author Danielle Reed, PhD, a Monell geneticist. "Now we can expand our use of this procedure to understand why people are sensitive to other types or tastes, such as sweet or umami, or other types of bitter compounds. We would then be able to test people for their innate ability or inability to taste a variety of flavors and foods." Such knowledge may someday be used to help patients consume beneficial bitter-tasting compounds, such as pharmaceuticals and health-promoting bitter-tasting plants.

The studies demonstrate that variations in a single bitter receptor gene can code for different taste receptors, each sensitive to distinct bitter taste compounds. Thus, while each human may have 25 or so bitter receptor taste genes, because each gene can code for multiple receptors with differing sensitivities, there may be hundreds of different bitter taste receptors in the human population as a whole, leading to wide individual variation in perception of bitterness.

The existence of both bitter "tasters" and "non-tasters" has the scientists curious for more answers. Breslin comments, "From a human evolutionary perspective, we want to understand how and why both tasters and non-tasters evolved and were maintained in the gene pool." Reed continues, "Usually when we see a trait like this, there is a biological advantage to maintaining the variation. We're wondering what that could be."

Source: Monell Chemical Senses Center

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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More On Allergies And Asthma

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Friday, March 18 2005

One-third of children with asthma who go into remission by the age of 18 will relapse and redevelop asthma by the time they are 26, says a new study published in the March issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians. The findings also suggest that children with certain common allergies, such as house dust mite sensitivity, and/or poor lung function are more likely to redevelop asthma following remission.

"While we cannot definitively explain why some individuals experience asthma relapse and others do not, we found that persistence of asthma and asthma relapse are significantly increased in children with house dust mite sensitivity," said study author, Malcolm R. Sears, MB, ChB, FRCPC, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. "This is likely due to persistent inflammation and genetic factors."

Although not statistically significant, the patients who relapsed more often had allergies to house dust mites, grass, cats, dogs, and mold; poorer lung function (measured by FEV1/FVC ratios at age 18); and increased frequency of responsiveness to methacholine or bronchodilator at age 21.

Source: American College Of Chest Physicians

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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The Zero Gravity Diet? Measuring Your Weight In Space

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Friday, March 18 2005

A recent article published by Science News Online states:

"Want to lose weight? Consider spending a few months on the International Space Station. Astronauts who step on the scales after a Space Station mission usually find that they've shed about 5 percent of their original body weight."

Sounds great to those of us on the ground, but it actually isn't so great for our astronauts in space who have little excess weight to spare.

Scott M. Smith, a nutrition scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and his colleagues have been studying the health and nutrition of astronauts aboard the space station, and they report some of their results in the March Journal of Nutrition.

"Smith says that astronauts lose weight mainly because they don't eat enough. On average, the astronauts eat 20 percent fewer calories than their recommended daily intake. Those are calories they can't spare because, although moving around in zero gravity looks effortless, previous studies have shown that working astronauts exert just as much energy in orbit as they do on the ground."

Here's a thought...

How do you check your weight in space?

Apparently they use a contraption with a spring-loaded metal arm which applies a small force to a body and measures how much it accelerates as a result.

According to the article, a person's mass can then be calculated precisely using Newton's second law of motion, which says basically that the more massive the astronaut, the less he or she will accelerate.

Here's a few more interesting tidbits offerred up by the article:

Other nutritional issues noted in the study seem to have nothing to do with the astronauts' eating habits. Instead, they appear to result from the conditions of being in Earth orbit. For example, vitamin D is normally produced in a person's skin by a reaction that requires ultraviolet light. The Space Station, flying as it does above Earth's ozone layer, is shielded to keep out harmful amounts of ultraviolet radiation. Unfortunately, this also prevents normal vitamin D production in an astronaut's skin. Vitamin D is needed for the maintenance and growth of bones.

The astronauts take vitamin D supplements to compensate, but there is the added problem that weightless bodies seem reluctant to use the vitamin D that they have available. Smith thinks the body's shunning of vitamin D is a natural reaction to weightlessness. "The body realizes that it doesn't need the same skeleton to get itself around," Smith says, so it cuts back on bone maintenance. The loss of bone that many astronauts experience during space flight is a problem that has yet to be resolved.

One thing the astronauts have too much of is iron. The Space Station study confirmed earlier results showing that astronauts accumulate unusually high amounts of iron in a form called ferritin. The careful dietary monitoring of the new study rules out the possibility that excess iron intake is to blame. It isn't clear what the real culprit is, but previous studies have shown that in space the body scales back on some activities that require iron, such as the production of red blood cells. The volume of blood in circulation also decreases, another phenomenon that Smith suggests may be a natural adjustment to weightlessness, which seems to make it easier for the circulatory system to route blood and oxygen through the body.

If you're a fan of everything nutrition, and even have a bit of the sci-fi bug like I do, you can click here to read the rest of the article.

Enjoy! And have a happy and healthy weekend!

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Here's A Great Tool For Dieters

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Friday, March 18 2005

While hopping around on the net, I discovered a great interactive tool over at the University of Vermont's website in their Dept. of Nutrition And Food Sciences section.

Click here to try their calorie expenditure calculator.

This calculator can estimate the energy expended in over 600 different activities. In addition, it can estimate your total daily energy expenditure (estimated calories burnt in kcal). Simply enter your first name and weight in the form. Then select a general category of activities from the list. You will then be prompted for a more specific activity description.

It's free to use!

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Cockroach Allergens Have Greatest Impact on Childhood Asthma In Many U.S. Cities

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Tuesday, March 8 2005

Dust mites and pet allergens were always thought to be the biggest factors that affect asthma in children, but a new study funded by NIEHS states another factor may actually be worse for inner-city children: COCKROACHES

NIH provided $7.5 million to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and seven other research institutions, including the Data Coordinating Center at Rho, Inc., for the three-year study.

"We found that a majority of homes in Chicago, New York City and the Bronx had cockroach allergen levels high enough to trigger asthma symptoms, while a majority of homes in Dallas and Seattle had dust mite allergen levels above the asthma symptom threshold," said Dr. Rebecca Gruchalla, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and lead author of the study.

"We also discovered that the levels of both of these allergens were influenced by housing type," noted Gruchalla. "Cockroach allergen levels were highest in high-rise apartments, while dust mite concentrations were greatest in detached homes."

According to NIEHS Director Kenneth Olden, Ph.D. "These data confirm that cockroach allergen is the primary contributor to childhood asthma in inner-city home environments. ...However, general cleaning practices, proven extermination techniques and consistent maintenance methods can bring these allergen levels under control."

Cockroach allergens come from several sources such as saliva, fecal material, secretions, cast skins, and dead bodies. People can reduce their exposure to cockroach allergen by eating only in the kitchen and dining room, putting non-refrigerated items in plastic containers or sealable bags, and taking out the garbage on a daily basis. Other measures include repairing leaky faucets, frequent vacuuming of carpeted areas and damp-mopping of hard floors, and regular cleaning of counter tops and other surfaces.

While cockroach allergen exposure did produce an increase in asthma symptoms, researchers did not find an increase in asthma symptoms as a result of exposure to dust mite and pet dander. "Children who tested positive for, and were exposed to, cockroach allergen experienced a significant increase in the number of days with cough, wheezing and chest tightness, number of nights with interrupted sleep, number of missed school days, and number of times they had to slow down or discontinue their play activity," said Gruchalla.

While cockroaches are primarily attracted to water sources and food debris, house dust mites, microscopic spider-like creatures that feed on flakes of human skin, reside in bedding, carpets, upholstery, draperies and other "dust traps." Dust mite allergens are proteins that come from the digestive tracts of mites and are found in mite feces.

The study results are published in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

To read the entire news release from NIEHS on the subject, see:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/cockroach.htm

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
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School-Based Smoking Prevention Programs Proving Ineffective

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Thursday, March 3 2005

According to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, smoking prevention programs in junior high or high school have little influence on whether teens choose to light up or not.

The study was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Our study shows there is little evidence to suggest that existing school-based smoking prevention programs produce long-term reductions in smoking prevalence among youth," says the study's first author, Sarah Wiehe, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of pediatrics, Division of Children's Health Services Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

The researchers reviewed eight randomized, controlled smoking prevention trials with follow-up smoking data through at least 12th grade or age 18. Data from the popular Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program were included in the final analysis.

Seven of the studies, including Project DARE, showed no statistically significant difference in smoking prevalence between students enrolled in school based smoking prevention programs and students not enrolled in this type of program. Only one program, Life Skills Program, had fewer smokers at long-term follow-up than in control schools.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends a comprehensive tobacco-control program, which includes a school-based component. In addition, Congress mandates that schools seeking Title IV funds use research-based prevention programs.

The March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health includes an editorial by faculty of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. The commentary discusses the larger implications of the study's findings and offers some potentially more effective anti-smoking strategies such as use of the media, tax levies, and smoke-free environments.

The school-based programs studied by Dr. Wiehe and colleagues shared certain characteristics. Most targeted middle-school students, although some focused on high school students and one addressed both age groups. Most of the programs followed the social influences model of behavior change.

None of the smoking reduction programs reviewed included community or media programs, which have been shown to negatively influence adolescent smoking. There were wide variations in study populations, type and intensity of intervention, and outcome measures.

Along with Dr. Wiehe, the study was authored by, Michelle M. Garrison, M.P.H., Dimitri A. Christakis, M.D., M.P.H., Beth E. Ebel, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H., and Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H.. At the time of the study, all authors were at the University of Washington.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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New UK Research Aimed At Helping Identify Asthma Factors In Children

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Thursday, March 3 2005

A unique Asthma UK research initiative launched today could help to identify factors in early childhood that cause asthma.

Called 'Asthma Phenobank' ...the project will collate information from seven research projects around the UK, specifically from birth cohorts - groups of children whose health is tracked from birth, including details of family history and home environment. One cohort alone, from Bristol, comprises 14,000 families.

Scientists will then use this huge bank of information to identify variations in asthma according to onset and history, and look for common factors and events within these variations.

It is the first time data has been analysed on this scale, and it is believed that this process should lead to greater understanding of the factors that can cause children to develop asthma.

"There appears to be increasing evidence suggesting that certain events, which happen to the baby in the womb or soon after birth will often determine whether that child will go on to develop asthma," said Philippa Major, Asthma UK's Assistant Director of Research.

Different factors that will be explored during the Phenobank project include:

-- Before birth: maternal health, nutrition during pregnancy, medicines taken during pregnancy, mother's smoking history;

-- At birth: gestation, birth weight, neonatal problems, feeding history;

-- Early childhood exposures: home environment - damp, moulds, crowding, second-hand smoke, socio-economic conditions, childhood nutrition, pet ownership, place of residence;

-- Other health issues: symptoms in early childhood, features of other allergic disorders, visits to GPs and /hospital and medication use.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
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New Vermont Law Requires Drug Companies Forced To Disclose Wholesale Prices

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Thursday, March 3 2005

"Under state legislation that is the 'first of its kind,' drug manufacturers beginning Tuesday will be required to disclose to Vermont physicians the average wholesale prices of individual drugs and other products in the same therapeutic class," the Wall Street Journal reports.

The law marks an effort to "curb prescription drug prices by putting price information in the hands of doctors," according to the Journal.

Under the law, drug manufacturers must disclose the AWP (Average Wholesale Price) whenever a company participates in "any form of prescription drug marketing directly to a physician or a person authorized to prescribe prescription drugs."

The new law requires that drug makers present a "short form" disclosure on paper that shows the AWP of the lowest dose of a drug, the AWP of the lowest dose of other brand-name drugs in the same class and the AWP of generic versions of the drug. A "long form" disclosure with additional information also must be posted on a Web site.

According to the Journal, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell (D) said the measure is "part of Vermont's effort to blunt escalating drug costs."

However, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spokesperson Wanda Moebius said, "The law doesn't reflect prices paid by patients with insurance or at a pharmacy, and so it's not a valid representation." She stated that using such disclosures for comparisons is like "comparing apples to oranges"

Source: Won Tesoriero, Wall Street Journal, 3/1/2005

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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Life Expectancy in USA Increases to 77.6 Years

-- Posted by kmyers001 on Thursday, March 3 2005

According to the preliminary annual mortality report released Monday by... CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, life expectancy for U.S. residents increased to a record 77.6 years and mortality rates for most leading causes of death declined in 2003.

The preliminary report indicates average life expectancy for U.S. residents in 2003 increased by nearly four months from an average of 77.3 years in 2002.

Howard Price of the Washington Times reports final results will be available in September.

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Author: K. Myers (aka kmyers001)
Click Here To Visit Website

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