Obama wants school vending machines banned

February 8, 2010

The Obama administration will ask Congress to improve childhood nutrition by ridding school vending machines of sugary snacks and drinks and giving school lunch and breakfast to more kids.

Mediterranean diet may help prevent dementia, study says

February 8, 2010

(CNN) — Eating a diet rich in healthy fats and limiting dairy and meat could do more than keep your heart healthier. It could also help keep you thinking clearly.

New research shows that sticking to the Mediterranean diet, previously shown to reduce heart and other health issues, also may help lower the risk of having small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems. Known as brain infarcts, theyre involved in vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia, after Alzheimers disease.

"Weve got these diseases of aging that cause disability, cost a ton of money to treat and manage, and wreck peoples lives," said Dr. Gregory Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in this new study. "Youve got to get in there and figure out what actually works for prevention, and not have people guessing."

A Mediterranean diet includes a lot of fruit, vegetables and fish, olive oil, legumes and cereals, and fewer dishes containing dairy, meat, poultry, and saturated fatty acids than other diets. It also involves small to moderate amounts of alcohol.

The study relates diet to strokes, said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center and lead author of the study. The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April.

An infarct, a kind of stroke, happens when the passage of blood is slowed or completely blocked by clotting. This study looked at people who had never had a clinical stroke, but may have had smaller strokes that went unnoticed. An MRI brain scan can detect these small strokes.

The study looked at 712 people over the age of 65 living in New York. Participants were asked about their diet and then, about six years later, underwent an MRI. In general, dietary patterns are consistent for at least seven or eight years, Scarmeas said.

Researchers found that people who most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were 36 percent less likely to have areas of brain damage, compared with those whose eating habits were furthest from the diet.

The study shows association, not causation, meaning there could be some other factors linking the Mediterranean diet to resilience against this form of brain damage. For example, other research has found that higher adherence to the diet seems to protect against hypertension, also associated with these brain problems.

But in this new research, when the scientists controlled for hypertension, the diet was still linked to a lower risk of brain damage. It is possible that the diet protects the brain vessels themselves, irrespective of other problems such as high blood pressure, Scarmeas said.

The participants who followed the Mediterranean diet the least had an increased risk for having strokes that was similar to people with hypertension. Those who most strongly adhered to the dietary regimen had a level of protection similar to people who did not have hypertension.

Scarmeas previous research has shown that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of Alzheimers disease. Looking at 2,250 individuals from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, researchers found a 40 percent lower risk among those who stuck to this diet, scientists reported in the Annals of Neurology in 2006. The people involved in the brain infarcts study are a subset of that original group.

As many as 2.4 million to 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimers disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. Between 1 and 4 percent of people over the age of 65 have vascular dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Other studies have suggested that this food regimen may help in preventing second heart attacks, lowering cancer risk and stopping the need for diabetes drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The new study "gives you better evidence than ever that this is actually protective, and protective against the development of dementia," Cole said.

The risk factors for vascular disease overlap with those of Alzheimers disease, he said. These include high blood pressure, high-fat diets, type 2 diabetes and low folate intake. People who have both Alzheimers and vascular disease — a condition called mixed dementia — have a more rapid progression of Alzheimers disease, Cole said.

A subsequent issue to address is whether a person must follow the entire Mediterranean diet in order to reap these benefits, or whether there are portions of it that contribute positive effects, Cole said. It would be easier for people to focus on adding particular elements to their diets — for example, by taking fish oil capsules — rather than trying to readjust their eating habits altogether.

Coles own research deals with fish oil, which is relevant because fish is a component in the Mediterranean diet. The bottom line for dementia is that fish oil may help in the very early stages, but more research must be done to confirm this, he said.

In a study, his group found that DHA fatty acids from fish oil could delay or deter the onset of Alzheimers disease in rats or older mice that had been genetically altered to develop the condition. Also, a recent study found that the DHA component of fish oil from algae helped people with minor memory impairment, but this needs to be replicated in order to be more definitive, he said.

When Scarmeas group looked at the individual components of the diet, they found a stronger association between the overall diet and brain damage prevention than with any individual food in the diet, suggesting that the combination all of the elements may be producing the effect, Scarmeas said.

Researchers will continue to follow the participants in the study and check in on them every year and a half, Scarmeas said.

The next step would be to have controlled experiments concerning food and dementia in which participants are randomly assigned to follow a diet, Cole said. It is complicated in general to compare the benefits of a particular diet with the benefits of not following a different food regimen.

First lady is tackling childhood obesity

February 8, 2010

After laying the groundwork for nearly a year, first lady Michelle Obama launches a campaign on Tuesday against childhood obesity that she hopes will change the way millions of Americans eat, exercise, look and feel.

Rep. John Murtha dead at 77

February 8, 2010

(CNN) — Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a longtime fixture on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending, died after complications from gallbladder surgery, according to his office. He was 77.

The Democratic congressman recently underwent laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder.

Murtha was hospitalized in December and had to postpone a hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the administrations strategy in Afghanistan. The congressman returned to work after a few days in the hospital and helped oversee final passage of the 2010 defense appropriations bill.

Murtha was "incredibly effective in his service in the House," said Wisconsin Rep. David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

"Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend." Murtha "will be missed," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The House of Representatives has lost one of its own."

Murtha had represented Pennsylvanias 12th Congressional District since 1974, making him the chambers eighth most senior member. According to his biography on the House of Representatives Web site, Murtha was the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress.

He was considered one of "the kings of pork" on Capitol Hill by taxpayer watchdog groups for requesting tens of millions of dollars in earmarks.

On his House Web site, Murtha strongly defended earmarks, saying, "I believe that elected representatives of the people understand their constituents and districts best."

Supporters said his efforts helped bring thousands of jobs to western Pennsylvania.

Other controversies dogged Murthas career. Critics alleged that he steered Pentagon contracts to businesses that hired his brother as a lobbyist, but Murtha insisted that his brother was treated like everyone else.