Category: Health

{First-of-its-kind, personalized glucose forecasting tool may make meal planning simpler for type 2 diabetes patients}

Columbia University researchers have developed a personalized algorithm that predicts the impact of particular foods on an individual’s blood sugar levels. The algorithm has been integrated into an app, Glucoracle, that will allow individuals with type 2 diabetes to keep a tighter rein on their glucose levels — the key to preventing or controlling the major complications of a disease that affects 8 percent of Americans.

The findings were published online today in PLOS Computational Biology.

Medications are often prescribed to help patients with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels, but exercise and diet also play an important role.

“While we know the general effect of different types of food on blood glucose, the detailed effects can vary widely from one person to another and for the same person over time,” said lead author David Albers, PhD, associate research scientist in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). “Even with expert guidance, it’s difficult for people to understand the true impact of their dietary choices, particularly on a meal-to-meal basis. Our algorithm, integrated into an easy-to-use app, predicts the consequences of eating a specific meal before the food is eaten, allowing individuals to make better nutritional choices during mealtime.”

The algorithm uses a technique called data assimilation, in which a mathematical model of a person’s response to glucose is regularly updated with observational data — blood sugar measurements and nutritional information — to improve the model’s predictions, explained co-study leader George Hripcsak, MD, MS, the Vivian Beaumont Allen Professor and chair of Biomedical Informatics at CUMC. Data assimilation is used in a variety of applications, notably weather forecasting.

“The data assimilator is continually updated with the user’s food intake and blood glucose measurements, personalizing the model for that individual,” said co-study leader Lena Mamykina, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at CUMC, whose team has designed and developed the Glucoracle app.

Glucoracle allows the user to upload fingerstick blood measurements and a photo of a particular meal to the app, along with a rough estimate of the nutritional content of the meal. This estimate provides the user with an immediate prediction of post-meal blood sugar levels. The estimate and forecast are then adjusted for accuracy. The app begins generating predictions after it has been used for a week, allowing the data assimilator has learned how the user responds to different foods.

The researchers initially tested the data assimilator on five individuals using the app, including three with type 2 diabetes and two without the disease. The app’s predictions were compared with actual post-meal blood glucose measurements and with the predictions of certified diabetes educators.

For the two non-diabetic individuals, the app’s predictions were comparable to the actual glucose measurements. For the three subjects with diabetes, the app’s forecasts were slightly less accurate, possibly due to fluctuations in the physiology of patients with diabetes or parameter error, but were still comparable to the predictions of the diabetes educators.

“There’s certainly room for improvement,” said Dr. Albers. “This evaluation was designed to prove that it’s possible, using routine self-monitoring data, to generate real-time glucose forecasts that people could use to make better nutritional choices. We have been able to make an aspect of diabetes self-management that has been nearly impossible for people with type 2 diabetes more manageable. Now our task is to make the data assimilation tool powering the app even better.”

Encouraged by these early results, the research team is preparing for a larger clinical trial. The researchers estimate that the app could be ready for widespread use within two years.

Source:Science Daily

{There are healthy foods and there are unhealthy foods. There are foods that’ll boost your mood and also foods that will have bad effect on your mood.}

{{Below are some of those foods that can have a bad effect on your mood:}}

{{1. Processed meats }}

Foods with processed meats like hot dogs and sausages and the likes contain high levels of energy-sucking, mood-altering nitrates, food colorings, preservatives, and additives that could cause headaches, low moods and water retention (bloating). Foods like these are usually appealing but they don’t do much good to your health or your mood either.

{{2. Margarine }}

Margarine is another unhealthy choice of food that can dampen your mood. Margarine contains processed fats, which compared to natural-occurring fats causes insulin imbalances, mood swings, weight gain, and increase the risk of heart attacks.

{{3. Coffee }}

If you’re a coffee fan, then you ought to be careful with the number of cups of coffee you drink a day. Over consumption of caffeine could make you suffer the consequences of jitters, anxiety, accelerated heart rate, perspiration, lack of focus and major mood swings.

{{4. Sodas }}

Sodas are a go to option for many, especially when they need quick energy. The sugar in soda could cause a mood spike followed by a mood crash due to severely low blood sugar.

{{5. Sugar-free drinks }}

Many people opt for sugar free sodas and the lot with the hope of avoiding fat and consuming less sugar. However, these drinks contain additives and aspartame that aren’t much better than sugary sodas. A sugar-free drink habit will likely lead to weight gain in the long run and the mood swings will then be back again.

{{6. Donuts and other baked foods }}

These ‘delicious’ and yet deceptive foods contain fast-burning carbohydrates, the kind that cause a quick spike in blood sugar and a dramatic sugar crash shortly after, which affects your focus, energy, and causes equally dramatic mood swings.

So can you now examine why you just get mood swings for no cause. Your diet could be a huge part of the reason.

Source:Science Daily

{Findings from large, 16-year study contradict sodium limits in Dietary Guidelines for Americans}

A new study that followed more than 2,600 men and women for 16 years found that consuming less sodium wasn’t associated with lower blood pressure. The new findings call into question the sodium limits recommended by the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Lynn L. Moore, DSc, associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, will present the new research at the American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and annual meeting during the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting, to be held April 22-26 in Chicago.

“We saw no evidence that a diet lower in sodium had any long-term beneficial effects on blood pressure,” said Moore. “Our findings add to growing evidence that current recommendations for sodium intake may be misguided.”

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting sodium intake to 2,300 grams a day for healthy people. For the study, the researchers followed 2,632 men and women ages 30 to 64 years old who were part of the Framingham Offspring Study. The participants had normal blood pressure at the study’s start. However, over the next 16 years, the researchers found that the study participants who consumed less than 2500 milligrams of sodium a day had higher blood pressure than participants who consumed higher amounts of sodium.

Other large studies published in the past few years have found what researchers call a J-shaped relationship between sodium and cardiovascular risk — that means people with low-sodium diets (as recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) and people with a very high sodium intake (above the usual intake of the average American) had higher risks of heart disease. Those with the lowest risk had sodium intakes in the middle, which is the range consumed by most Americans.

“Our new results support these other studies that have questioned the wisdom of low dietary sodium intakes in the general population,” said Moore.

The researchers also found that people in the study who had higher intakes of potassium, calcium and magnesium exhibited lower blood pressure over the long term. In Framingham, people with higher combined intakes of sodium (3717 milligrams per day on average) and potassium (3211 milligrams per day on average on average) had the lowest blood pressure.

“This study and others point to the importance of higher potassium intakes, in particular, on blood pressure and probably cardiovascular outcomes as well,” said Moore. “I hope that this research will help refocus the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans on the importance of increasing intakes of foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium for the purpose of maintaining a healthy blood pressure.”

Moore says that there is likely a subset of people sensitive to salt who would benefit from lowering sodium intake, but more research is needed to develop easier methods to screen for salt sensitivity and to determine appropriate guidelines for intakes of sodium and potassium in this salt-sensitive group of people.

Source:Science Daily

{About one in three men suffer from premature ejaculation at some point in their lives according to Mayo Clinic and it’s causing anxiety for lots of men.}

{{Here are 6 ways to stop premature ejaculation}}

{{1. Stop and start technique }}

The stop-and-start technique can be used to stop premature ejaculation. The stop-and-start technique is a technique where you keep riding your partner until you’re just about to ejaculate and then you stop. You stop by either stopping movement, pulling out completely from your partner or squeezing the base of your penis. After a few seconds, you can continue riding your partner.

{{2. Distraction }}

Distracting yourself during sex is another way you can stop premature ejaculation. To avoid being a one-minute man, don’t think about the sex you are having but think of something really ugly that you hate. Distracting yourself during sex can be useful in stopping premature ejaculation.

{{3. Relax yourself }}

Worrying about finishing too soon will make you finish too soon during sex so it’s important you learn to relax and not worry about finishing too soon. When ejaculating too soon doesn’t worry you, the chances of having premature ejaculation is reduced.

{{4. Have more sex with your partner }}

Premature ejaculation can be solved by been familiar and comfortable sexually with your partner and this can be achieved by having more sex with your partner. You are less likely to have performance anxiety which can lead to premature ejaculation if you are comfortable with your partner sexually.

{{5. Use thicker condoms }}

Over-sensitivity is the major cause of premature ejaculation and you can last longer in bed by reducing the sensitivity. This could be achieved by using thicker condoms. There are also certain condoms that contain fluid that reduces sensation during sex thereby reducing your chances of having premature ejaculation.

{{6. See a doctor }}

Seeing a doctor can also help you stop premature ejaculation. There are approved medication for treating premature ejaculation.

Source:Science Daily

{They made some people wonder when it comes to real meaning others are curiously willing to know the original background, these are the famous symbols or logo frequently found on community pharmacies and other pharmaceutical products.}

A pharmacist is a health care professional licensed to prepare, compound, and dispense drugs upon written order known as Prescription. A pharmacist as well cooperates with, consults with, and sometimes advises the licensed practitioner concerning drugs.

As other various careers most especially those ones which fall into medical profile, they do possess significant logos representing specific type of career with a reasonable meaning. This applies to pharmacy symbols seen on relevant pharmaceutical products.

Pharmacy symbols alternate from one country to another. In USA, for instance, the {{green cross}} is used. This symbol is also used in France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Spain but also in Argentina, India and many other countries.

The cross is the symbol of rescue and of military and civil protection. This cross, also called the “Greek cross”, has four equal arms and it has become a symbol of Christianity over time. Originally this famous cross was red. The pharmacists borrowed this symbol from the international organization of the Red Cross, an organization created in the late 19th century.

The emblem had been adopted by many pharmaceutical manufacturers who added it to their packaging. Pharmacists followed the movement by making their emblem of this Red Cross. However, in 1913, the Geneva Convention prohibited the use of the Red Cross to pharmacists who, finally, adopted the green cross.

Some people mention the vegetal origin of many medications, others evoke the World War I as to why the cross is green. Indeed, at that time, doctors and pharmacists had to have the same uniform as officers, the only variable being the badges on the collar. It was then decided that doctors had to wear a crimson velvet collar and pharmacists a dark green collar.

The {{pharmaceutical caduceus}}, a symbol with a snake hugging a cup, standing with a head bowing down into the cup. Influx of this symbol can be found in Rwanda for instance and countries such as as Netherlands and others.

According to university of Arizona Health Sciences, in Greek mythology, Hygeia was the daughter and assistant of Aesculapius (sometimes spelled Asclepius), the son of Apollo, grandson of Zeus, and the god of medicine and healing.

Legend has it that Zeus was worried that Aesculapius would make mankind immortal because of his healing power. Out of fear, he killed Aesculapius with a lightning bolt. Temples were built for Aesculapius, and seemingly dead serpents were found inside.
When these serpents were picked up and dropped, however, they slithered away. The people believed the serpents were brought back to life by the healing powers of Aesculapius, which ultimately caused them to be associated with healing.

Hygeia tended to these temples, so her classical symbol became a bowl containing a medicinal potion, with the serpent of Wisdom drinking from it. The serpent is symbolic of resurrection, and the bowl health and medicine. Interestingly, this same serpent is found on the so-called Staff of Aesculapius and on the Caduceus, both widely recognizable symbols of medicine.

The serpent of Epidaurus hugging a cup appears, from 1222, in apothecaries of Padua (Italy) as a distinctive symbol of the pharmacy used as the main pattern of their banner. The serpent symbolizes the healing art, fertility and life.

{{Mortar and pestle with the Rx symbol:}}

This symbol is widely used in the Anglo-Saxon culture. It refers to a medical prescription but is also used as a symbol of pharmacy. Rx is an abbreviation of prescription, from the Latinrecipe, it means « recipe take thou » which means “take it in the name of god”. It also symbolizes the prayer to the God of medicine, Jupiter.

The mortar and pestle are two tools used since ancient times by the apothecaries and pharmacy technicians to grind various products of the pharmacopoeia for pharmaceutical preparations and compounded products. It is one of the most frequent symbol of compounding worldwide.

{{The red stylized letter A:}}

This symbol is used by all pharmacies in Austria and Germany. It is also sometimes found in their European neighboring countries. This Gothic letter A on white background is just the first letter of the word “Apotheke” or “Apotheker” synonym of Pharmacy and Pharmacist respectively.

By Fabrice Humura

The writer is a Pharmacy student at the University of Rwanda in the College of Medicine and Health sciences

Twitter @fhumura

{Study finds that anger, guilt can inspire positive health habits}

Feeling down is a common side effect of being diagnosed with cancer. Anxiety, guilt, and distress often come hand-in-hand with diagnosis and treatment.

But a recent study by researchers from Concordia and the University of Toronto shows that these seemingly negative emotions can actually be good for patients.

Andrée Castonguay, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Concordia’s Faculty of Arts and Science, says feelings of anger or guilt can inspire people to set new goals and engage in more moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

“That helps counteract the boost in the stress hormone cortisol, which those emotions also cause, and which can negatively disrupt the way the body functions,” she adds.

The research, published in the journal Health Psychology, looked at recently diagnosed and treated breast cancer patients.

For the study, Castonguay and her co-authors, Concordia psychology professor Carsten Wrosch and University of Toronto kinesiology professor Catherine Sabiston, had 145 breast cancer survivors fill out a questionnaire to assess their emotions, capacity to engage in new goals and level of physical activity.

The researchers also analyzed cortisol levels using saliva samples provided five times over the course of a year by the participants.

The team then conducted detailed analyses using a modelling technique that helped them predict the relationship between the women’s negative feelings, commitment to new goals, physical activity and cortisol levels over time.

They found that participants’ capacity for setting new goals, like starting to go for brisk walks, facilitated the beneficial effect of negative emotions on physical activity and prevented the adverse effects of increased cortisol, which can result in a host of health problems, including a weakened immune system.

“Our results underscore the complexity of the link between emotions and health,” explains Wrosch, who is also a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.

“Although negative emotions have a bad reputation and have been linked to disease, they are also ‘designed’ to produce adaptive behaviours.”

In particular, he adds, emotions like guilt or anxiety may motivate people to change their health-compromising behaviours and engage in more exercise. “This may be particularly important among certain cancer survivors, since inactivity, weight problems or obesity can be common risk factors.”

Castonguay says that, although recent guidelines encourage breast cancer survivors to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours, few survivors actually engage in the recommended levels.

“This includes 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week to reduce the risk of developing further health problems related to immune function, weight management and quality of life.”

Based on their findings, the researchers conclude that certain negative emotions can play an important role in directing adaptive health behaviours among some cancer survivors and can contribute to long-term benefits on their physical health.

“The capacity to commit to and engage in new goals is an important resource for helping survivors meet activity recommendations and minimize the negative impact of bad moods on their biological functioning,” Castonguay says.

She hopes that the study will encourage clinicians to identify cancer survivors who have difficulty selecting and commiting to new goals, and to work with them to help them follow through.

Source:Science Daily

{Living in a stimulating environment has a wide range of health benefits in humans and has even been shown to fight cancer in mice, but the underlying mechanisms have been unclear. A study published April 25 in Cell Reports reveals that cognitive stimulation, social interactions, and physical activity increase lifespan in mice with colon cancer by triggering the body’s wound repair response.}

“The bottom line is that there are many benefits with minimal risks to reducing stress through mind-body interventions,” says senior author Melinda Angus-Hill of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. “However, more research is essential to define whether mind-body interventions drive a wound repair response in colon tumorigenesis in humans.”

Mind-body medicine focuses on reducing the physiological manifestations of stress and anxiety by improving social and cognitive stimulation, as well as physical activity. A growing body of evidence suggests that mind-body medicine can significantly improve overall health. For example, epidemiological studies have found that depression, stress, and social isolation increase the risk of cancer progression. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these effects have not been clear.

To address this question, Angus-Hill and her team exposed mice with colon cancer to environmental enrichment by housing them in cages filled with many other mice, along with running wheels, tunnels, huts, igloos, and nesting materials. The researchers found that exposure to stimulating surroundings increased the lifespan of male and female mice with colon tumors (55 days and 82 days, respectively) but most likely through different mechanisms. Environmental enrichment reduced tumor size in females but decreased blood levels of inflammatory molecules in males.

A reduction in inflammation is a key step in the wound repair process, and it has long been recognized that tumors resemble wounds that do not heal. So the researchers suspected that environmental enrichment might also trigger other steps of the wound repair process, thereby improving the survival of male mice with colon cancer. Consistent with this idea, they found that environmental enrichment activated nuclear hormone receptor signaling pathways involved in wound repair and improved tumor vasculature in male mice with colon cancer.

Blood vessels in the tumor microenvironment are often nonfunctional, preventing cancer drugs from reaching their target. Therefore, these findings suggest that environmental enrichment could improve the delivery of chemotherapeutic or immunotherapeutic agents to the colon tumor. “Our findings support additional studies into the future application of mind-body intervention in combination with conventional therapy for patients with colorectal cancer,” Angus-Hill said.

Moreover, environmental enrichment stimulated immune cells called plasma cells to produce an antibody called Immunoglobulin A (IgA), which attached to the surface of pericytes located on the outside of blood vessels. The activated, IgA-bound pericytes then migrated to and replaced glandular structures at the periphery of tumors, thereby sealing the wound in a process similar to scarring. Ultimately, the wound repair process restored the integrity of the colon barrier, defended against pathogens, and improved the composition of gut microbes, thereby reducing inflammation.

“Our study demonstrates a positive role of environmental enrichment-induced IgA secreting plasma cells and raises the possibility of harnessing their potential for therapeutic purposes in colon cancer, particularly in people who practice stress reduction techniques and who are physically active,” Angus-Hill says.

Based on these findings, Angus-Hill and her team are now planning on initiating clinical trials to study the effects of mind-body therapy in patients with colon cancer. They would also like to examine how environmental enrichment improves the survival of female mice with colon cancer and what explains the different effects between the sexes. Another important goal will be to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms that are essential for the beneficial effects of wound repair following environmental enrichment. “This could aid in developing pharmacological strategies that mimic mind-body medicine,” Angus-Hill says. “The availability of a pharmacological treatment to effortlessly reduce stress would be invaluable for cancer and disease prevention and treatment.”

Source:Science Daily

{In animal studies, researchers design fluid-filled environment to bridge critical time from mother’s womb to outside world}

A unique womb-like environment designed by pediatric researchers could transform care for extremely premature babies, by mimicking the prenatal fluid-filled environment to give the tiniest newborns a precious few weeks to develop their lungs and other organs.

“Our system could prevent the severe morbidity suffered by extremely premature infants by potentially offering a medical technology that does not currently exist,” said study leader Alan W. Flake, MD, a fetal surgeon and director of the Center for Fetal Research in the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Flake and colleagues report on preclinical studies of their extra-uterine support device in Nature Communications. They tested and monitored effects on fetal lambs, in which prenatal lung development is very similar to that occurring in humans.

The innovative system uses a unique fluid-filled container attached to custom-designed machines that provide physiologic support. The fetal lambs grow in a temperature-controlled, near-sterile environment, breathing amniotic fluid as they normally do in the womb, their hearts pumping blood through their umbilical cord into a gas exchange machine outside the bag. Electronic monitors measure vital signs, blood flow and other crucial functions.

Of the one in ten U.S. births that are premature (younger than 37 weeks gestational age), about 30,000 per year are critically preterm — younger than 26 weeks. Extreme prematurity is the nation’s leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity, accounting for one-third of all infant deaths and one-half of all cases of cerebral palsy attributed to prematurity.

Neonatal care practices have improved overall survival of premature infants and have pushed the limits of viability to 22 to 23 weeks of gestation. At that age an infant weighs below 600 grams — little more than a pound — and has a 30 to 50 percent chance of survival. But this survival comes at a high price in quality of life, with a 90 percent risk of morbidity, from chronic lung disease or other complications of organ immaturity. Survivors face lifelong disability.

“These infants have an urgent need for a bridge between the mother’s womb and the outside world,” said Flake. “If we can develop an extra-uterine system to support growth and organ maturation for only a few weeks, we can dramatically improve outcomes for extremely premature babies.” The goal is to support infants from 23 weeks to 28 weeks gestational age; at 28 weeks they cross the threshold away from the most severe outcomes.

In the current study, the researchers describe the evolution of their system over three years, through a series of four prototypes, beginning with a glass incubator tank, and progressing to the current device. The eight preterm lambs tested in the most recent prototype were physiologically equivalent to a 23- or 24-week-gestation human infant.

The current system mimics life in the uterus as closely as possible, building on knowledge from previous neonatal research. There is no external pump to drive circulation, because even gentle artificial pressure can fatally overload an underdeveloped heart, and there is no ventilator, because the immature lungs are not yet ready to do their work of breathing in atmospheric oxygen. Instead, the baby’s heart pumps blood via the umbilical cord into the system’s low-resistance external oxygenator that substitutes for the mother’s placenta in exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.

In addition, amniotic fluid, produced in the laboratory, flows into and out of the bag. “Fetal lungs are designed to function in fluid, and we simulate that environment here, allowing the lungs and other organs to develop, while supplying nutrients and growth factors,” said fetal physiologist Marcus G. Davey, PhD, who designed and redesigned the system’s inflow and outflow apparatus.

The sealed, sterile environment inside the system is insulated from variations in temperature, pressure and light, and particularly from hazardous infections.

Previous researchers have investigated versions of an artificial placenta in animal models, but pumpless systems have achieved a maximum duration of 60 hours, and the animals have sustained brain damage. The new system, in contrast, has operated up to 670 hours (28 days) with some animals, which remained healthy. The lambs showed normal breathing and swallowing, opened their eyes, grew wool, became more active, and had normal growth, neurological function and organ maturation.

The program team brings together a broad range of experts at CHOP, including neonatologists, fetal medicine specialists, respiratory therapists, perfusionists and others. The initial impetus for the program came from CHOP research fellow Emily Partridge, MD, PhD, who experienced the challenges of caring for critically premature infants. “Those infants really struck a chord with me,” she said. She researched existing scientific literature, and five years ago proposed to Flake the pilot project that became the current device.

The researchers will continue to evaluate and refine the system, and will need to downsize it for human infants, who are one-third the size of the infant lambs used in the current study.

If their animal results translate into clinical care, Flake envisions that a decade from now, extremely premature infants would continue to develop in chambers filled with amniotic fluid, rather than lying in incubators, attached to ventilators. Added to the desired health benefits, there could be a large economic impact as well, reducing the estimated $43 billion annual medical costs of prematurity in the U.S.

Flake stresses that the team does not aim to extend viability to an earlier period than the current mark of 23 weeks. Before that point, limitations of physical size and physiologic functioning would impose unacceptably high risks. However, he added, “This system is potentially far superior to what hospitals can currently do for a 23-week-old baby born at the cusp of viability. This could establish a new standard of care for this subset of extremely premature infants.”

Source:Science Daily

{A tear is a watery fluid that trickles down from the eyes when certain emotions are triggered in humans and animals. Examples include happiness, sadness, pain, etc. Now to the types of tears there are.}

Many people assume that all tears are the same, but that’s not true. There is more than one type of tear, and they are released under different circumstances.

The first type of tear is Basal tears. This type of tear happens when you blink, contains elements like water, mucin, lipids, lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin, lacritin, immunoglobulin, glucose, urea, sodium, and potassium (proteins, salts and fats to help clean, lubricate and fight infection in the eye).

The second type of tear is called psychic tears. This type has an entirely different chemical make-up and contains hormones and natural pain killers. This type is usually visible during emotions like anger, happiness, etc.

Finally, there’s also the reflex tear. As the name implies, this type of tear comes spontaneously, especially if there’s a foreign body threatening the eye.

Don’t forget that it’s not necessary to wash your eyes. Your eyes do not require a wash. The tears produced in them sufficiently perform that task.

Source:Elcrema

{A team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic and New York University School of Medicine have found that obesity resulted in as much as 47 percent more life-years lost than tobacco, and tobacco caused similar life-years lost as high blood pressure.}

Preliminary work presented by Cleveland Clinic at the 2017 Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting analyzed the contribution of modifiable behavioral risk factors to causes-of-death in the U.S. population, using 2014 data.

Based on this preliminary work, the team found the greatest number of preventable life-years lost were due to (in order from greatest to least) obesity, diabetes, tobacco use, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, researchers also noted that some individuals may have needs that are very different than those of the broader U.S. population. For an obese and alcoholic patient, for example, alcohol use may be more important to address than obesity, even though obesity has a greater impact on the population.

Results highlight the clinical and public health achievement of smoking cessation efforts because 15 years ago, tobacco would have topped the list.

“Modifiable behavioral risk factors pose a substantial mortality burden in the U.S.,” said Glen Taksler, Ph.D., internal medicine researcher from Cleveland Clinic and lead author of the study. “These preliminary results continue to highlight the importance of weight loss, diabetes management and healthy eating in the U.S. population.”

A key takeaway is that three (diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol) of the top five causes of death can be treated, so helping patients understand treatment options and approaches can have a powerful impact on life-years. The results also highlight the importance of preventive care in clinical practice and why it should be a priority for physicians.

To estimate the number of life-years lost to each modifiable risk factor, researchers examined the change in mortality for a series of hypothetical U.S. populations that each eliminated a single risk factor. They compared the results with the change in life-years lost for an “optimal” population that eliminated all modifiable risk factors. Recognizing that some less common factors might place substantial burden on small population subgroups, they also estimated life expectancy gained in individuals with each modifiable risk factor.

“The reality is, while we may know the proximate cause of a patient’s death, for example, breast cancer or heart attack, we don’t always know the contributing factor(s), such as tobacco use, obesity, alcohol and family history. For each major cause of death, we identified a root cause to understand whether there was a way a person could have lived longer.”

Dr. Taksler and colleagues are continuing to conduct research in this area, and analyze and refine results.

Source:Science Daily