Your Diet and Your Health - Weight, Cancer and Depression

I have "ranted" many times about healthy diets. There have been several studies recently that confirm this. Diets heavy in ultra-processed foods also tend to have more calories, sodium, fat, additives, sugar, and contaminants like acrylamide and bisphenol A, and less fiber and micronutrients.

CANCER

In a study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2018;360:k322), researchers found eating a lot of ultra-processed foods — like mass-produced desserts, packaged bread, processed meats, and snack foods — may be associated with increased cancer risk. In a study of over 10,000 patients, each 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake was associated with increased risk for overall cancer and breast cancer.

In a second study (doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.4844) researchers followed 121,000 patients and monitored their diets. Those with the highest pro-inflammatory diets (high in processed food) had an almost 50% higher rate of colon cancer.

WEIGHT

In a study in Denmark (Gut 2017 Nov 1. ) researchers examined whether replacing a refined grain diet with a whole grain diet would have an effect on the gut bacteria and weight. They found that the whole grain diet body weight decreased slightly, which correlated with lower energy intake. Inflammatory markers decreased with the whole grain diet.

DEPRESSION

In a study of adolescents (Brain Behav Immun 2018 Jan 12. ) researchers looked at the effects of a pro-inflammatory (processed) diet versus a "healthy” diet (consisting of more fish, fruits, vegetables, whole grains). They found a significant lower incidence of depression in 17 year olds on the healthy diet.

So eat whole grains, and stay away from processed food. I'm sure once in while is OK, but try and maintain a healthy diet!

Ultrasounds in Pregnancy - Don't Get 4D!

Doing one or two ultrasounds during pregnancy are a very useful procedure to evaluate growth of the fetus and many early abnormalities which can be treated. It has prevented innumerable fetal deaths.

But we have gotten a bit carried away, with multiple ultrasounds and even the high intensity 4D type ultrasound. I have always advised against it, because we really don't know what effect they can have on the developing fetus. The initial concerns were about hearing, but now a recent study raises additional concerns.

In a retrospective study of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) children researcher found that there was significant association with deeper penetration ultrasound; but not with the number of ultrasounds.

This does not prove cause, but confirms that the least number of ultrasounds is best. And those 4D fancy pictures are surely unnecessary!

JAMA Pediatr 2018 Feb 12

Flu Vaccine - Get it

The CDC annually predicts which type of flu (there are 2 genes in each virus, with many varieties of each possible) will predominate and incorporated that in their vaccine. Based on cultures in this year's flu viruses, the efficacy is:

• Influenza A(H3N2): 25%

• Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09: 67%

• Influenza B: 42%

Overall, 36% are controlled with the vaccine. However, looking at age groups they found:

Children aged 6 months through 8 years (59% effective)

Adults aged 18 through 49 (33% effective).

The flu can be a fatal illness. If you had a 36% chance of preventing a fatal disease would't you take it. Side effects are minimal.

And, In a news conference on Thursday, the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat noted that three out of four children who've died from flu this season were not vaccinated.

Everyone over 6 months old should be vaccinated.