Breast cancer is a disease so directly related to vitamin D deficiency that a woman’s risk of contracting the disease can be ‘virtually eradicated’ by elevating her vitamin D status to what vitamin D scientists consider to be natural blood levels.That’s the message vitamin D pioneer Dr. Cedric Garland delivered in Toronto Tuesday as part of the University of Toronto School of Medicine’s “Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency” conference - the largest gathering of vitamin D researchers in North America this year. More than 170 researchers, public health officials and health practitioners gathered at the UT Faculty club for the landmark event.

Garland’s presentation headlined a conference that reviewed many aspects of the emerging vitamin D research field - a booming discipline that has seen more than 3,000 academic papers this calendar year alone, conference organizers said. That makes vitamin D by far the most prolific topic in medicine this year, with work connecting it with risk reduction in two dozen forms of cancer, heart disease, multiple scleroses and many other disorders.

Dr. Reinhold Vieth, Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at University of Toronto, and Director of the Bone and Mineral Laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital, organized the event in conjunction with Grassroots Health - an international vitamin D advocacy group founded by breast cancer survivor Carole Baggerly.

Baggerly implored the research group to take action and encourage Canadians to learn more about vitamin D and to raise their vitamin D levels.

An estimated 22,700 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, according to the Canadian Cancer Society’s latest figures.

As much as 97 percent of Canadians are vitamin D deficient at some point in the year, according to University of Calgary research - largely due to Canada’s northerly latitudes and weak sun exposure. Sunshine is by far the most abundant source of vitamin D - called ‘The Sunshine Vitamin’ - with salmon and fortified milk being other sources. Vitamin D supplementation helps raise levels for many as well.

Grassroots Health’s “D-action” panel - 30 of the world’s leading researchers on vitamin D and many other vitamin D supporters - recommend 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily and vitamin D blood levels of 100-150 nanomoles-per-liter as measured by a vitamin D blood test.

Vieth pointed out that natural vitamin D levels of mammals who live outdoors in sunny climates is higher than that - up to 200 nanomoles-per liter. And Garland, whose presentation was entitled “Breast Cancer as a Vitamin D Deficiency Disease” presented data showing that raising one’s vitamin D status near those levels decreased breast cancer risk more than 77 percent.

‘The Sunshine Vitamin’ was once thought of only for bone health, helping the body process calcium. But more recent work has shown that all cells in the body have “vitamin D receptors” which help control normal cell growth. Additionally, Garland presented new evidence that low vitamin D status compromises the integrity of calcium-based cellular bonding within tissues, which when eroded allow rogue cancer cells to spread more readily.

Grassroots Health is trying to raise vitamin D awareness among Canadians. Despite epidemic-level vitamin D deficiency in Canada, fewer than nine per cent of Canadians have ever had their vitamin D levels checked by a professional and most who have do not know their vitamin D blood level.

(c) 2009 Canada Newswire. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

Low cholesterol may be a result of underlying cancer, challenging a concern that lower total cholesterol may lead to cancer, a U.S. researcher suggests.Dr. Demetrius Albanes of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues looked at data from 29,093 men from the Alpha-Tocopheral, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study.

Low cholesterol was linked — as in previous studies — to an 18 percent higher risk of cancer overall. However, this risk disappeared when the researchers excluded cases in the early years after the original blood draw. Also, higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, the “good” cholesterol, were associated with a 14 percent decreased risk of cancer even after excluding nine years of early cases.

“Our study affirms that lower total cholesterol may be caused by undiagnosed cancer,” Albanes said in a statement. “In terms of public health message, we found that higher levels of ‘good cholesterol’ seem to be protective for all cancers, which is in line with recommendations for cardiovascular health.”

The finding is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

More than 15,000 children are diagnosed with type I diabetes in the U.S. each year, which is more than 40 kids a day. A total of 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people ages 20 years or older in 2007.These figures come from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), whose mission is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. While diagnosis most often occurs in childhood and adolescence, it can and does strike adults as well. To stay alive, people with type I diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump. They must also test their blood sugar several times per day. While trying to balance insulin doses with their food intake and daily activities, people with this form of diabetes must always be prepared for serious hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) reactions.

“Both children and adults like me who live with type I diabetes need to be mathematicians, physicians, personal trainers and dieticians all rolled into one. We need to be constantly factoring and adjusting, making frequent finger sticks to check blood sugars, and giving ourselves multiple daily insulin injections just to stay alive,” stated JDRF International Chairwoman, Mary Tyler Moore on the JDRF Web site.

Despite rigorous attention to maintaining a meal plan, exercise regimen and always injecting the proper amount of insulin, many other factors can adversely affect efforts to tightly control blood sugar levels including stress, hormonal changes, periods of growth, physical activity, medications, illness, infection and fatigue.

Diabetes carries the threat of devastating complications that can include skin infections and disorders, neuropathy, heart disease, high blood pressure, pregnancy complications, kidney disease and potential loss of sight.

In November, which is Diabetes Awareness Month, the Daily Globe will run a story each Friday featuring a “face” of diabetes — everyday people who live their lives while coping with the complications of a disease that affects millions of Americans.

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To see more of The Daily Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dglobe.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Daily Globe, Worthington, Minn.

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HOW TO … PICK AN EXERCISE CLASSThe lengthy menu of group fitness programs at most gyms can be overwhelming. Here is advice from personal trainers on finding one suited for you:

Observe it first. Ask the instructor if you can stand in the back of the room and watch a class in action. You also can talk to some participants afterward and, if you like what you hear, get a few tips on tackling the first day.

Talk to the instructor. Find out the usual pace of a class and its fitness goals, whether it’s overall toning, weight loss or working on specific body parts. A program also may be more or less intense on certain days of the week.

Determine your “impact” level. Aerobics classes usually are divided into low, medium and high impact. If you haven’t exercised regularly and get out of breath fairly easily, start out low and aim to move up over time.

Consider your personality. An introvert may not fit into a loud, upbeat aerobics class as much as an extrovert. At the same time, going against your personality may be just what you need _ for instance, a peaceful yoga class for a hard-charging type.

Don’t be afraid to branch out. Many classes that seem intimidating such as belly dancing, yoga or spinning _ are organized so people of all fitness levels can enjoy them. You may be surprised by what you like (and remember: you don’t have to go back).

Look for more than one class. Switching up your routine throughout the week will increase your body’s fat-burning rate.

Bring a friend. Checking out a new class can be intimidating. Get a pal to join you _ preferably another beginner.

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(c) 2009, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).

Visit dailypress.com, the World Wide Web site of the Daily Press at http://dailypress.com and on America Online at keyword “dailypress.”

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A vast majority of readers who responded to last week’s online poll said the government should be able to dictate what welfare recipients are able to buy with food stamps and other forms of nutritional assistance.Seventy-four percent of participants in our unscientific poll said it is OK for government to issue such rules. In addition, only 38 percent of respondents said they believe food-aid recipients can make wise purchasing decisions on their own.

The poll was inspired by recent efforts in Arizona and possibly the federal government to limit the kinds of food can be purchased with government aid.

Regarding the impact such restrictions will have, a combined 76 percent of respondents said the rules will either greatly or slightly improve the diets of welfare recipients and their families. Most of the remaining participants, 20 percent, said the new rules won’t improve diets at all.

We also asked readers, “What, if anything, do you believe the government should do to get food-aid recipients to eat healthier, or is this not a problem?” Here is what some readers had to say:

* Teach proper nutrition in school and make school exercise mandatory.

* My parents would make me sit at the table after everyone else left, with my cold vegetables that I could not gag down. My children would not eat vegetables until they were in their teens. In other words, you cannot force healthy foods on people. Like everything else, they have to discover it on their own.

* Either give out food stamps and get off people’s backs, or don’t give out food stamps at all.

* Restrict what aid can be spent for. Junk food is simply not food. Just the restriction would provide some meaningful education.

* The only reason I know anything about good nutrition and how to cook beans and rice is because I read. If people don’t read, then they need to rely on their school-age children to teach them. Nutrition and food-preparation classes should start in kindergarden.

* The government should stay out of people’s kitchens regardless of income status.

* Limit foods with limited nutritional value. For example, no sodas whatsoever. Also, consider culturally sensitive food values and choices.

* Limit the items people can purchase, just like they did before. This is not a civil rights issue. People don’t have a constitutional right to food stamps.

* The government shouldn’t do anything. Treat people like adults and let them make their own food choices.

POLL RESULTS

Do you believe the government should dictate what food-aid recipients can or cannot buy?

* Yes 74%

* No 26%

Do you believe food-aid recipients can make wise purchasing decisions on their own without government interference?

* Yes 38%

* No 62%

What effect do you believe restrictions on what food-aid recipients can purchase will have?

* Diets will improve greatly. 24%

* Diets will improve slightly. 52%

* Diets won’t improve at all. 20%

* Diets will get worse. 4%

Poll results are not scientific and reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate. Results as of 11 a.m. Friday.

Originally published by ARIZONA DAILY STAR.

(c) 2009 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Children with more of the toxic chemical C8 in their blood are more likely to have high cholesterol, according to a new scientific study filed Friday in Wood Circuit Court.The study, conducted by West Virginia University researchers, found higher levels of C8 “were significantly associated with higher cholesterol and LDL, or so-called “bad cholesterol,” according to a summary filed by lawyers for DuPont Co. and Wood County residents.

Lawyers for both sides in a now-settled class action suit over DuPont’s C8 pollution filed the study in circuit court after it was provided to them by members of a three-person science panel studying the chemical’s effects as part of that legal settlement.

Previously, the C8 Science Panel had issued a report that tied C8 exposure to high cholesterol in adults, and other studies have linked high levels of exposure to increased cholesterol among exposed chemical plant workers.

This latest study on C8 exposure and cholesterol in children was filed in court, but had not been posted on the Science Panel’s Web site or otherwise publicized by the panel, at least as of late Friday afternoon.

C8 is another name for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. It is one of a family of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. The other best-known PFC is PFOS. In West Virginia, DuPont had used C8 since the 1950s at its Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg. C8 is a processing agent used to make Teflon and other non-stick and stain-resistant products.

Around the world, researchers are finding that people have C8 and other PFCs in their blood at low levels. People can be exposed by drinking contaminated water, eating tainted food or through food packaging and stain-proof agents on furniture or carpet.

Evidence is mounting about the chemical’s dangers, but regulators have yet to yet a binding federal limit for emissions or human exposure.

The Science Panel and researchers at WVU are conducting separate, but related, reviews of C8 as part of a $107.6 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by residents who alleged DuPont’s Washington Works plant poisoned their drinking water with C8.

In one effort, the C8 Health Project, residents gave blood and detailed medical histories to try to give researchers a huge database from which to consider C8s impacts. WVU researchers are analyzing that data and have been making some preliminary findings public.

In the other, three experts agreed to by DuPont and lawyers for the residents are trying to determine if C8 is linked to adverse health effects. Their conclusion will be used to decide if DuPont must fund a medical monitoring program for residents who drank contaminated water

The latest WVU work examined blood samples from nearly 12,500 Mid-Ohio Valley residents under the age of 18 living at some point in water districts where the supply was polluted with C8.

The average C8 found in the blood was 69 parts per billion, compared to the average in the general U.S. population of about 5 parts per billion.

The study summary said that children with the highest levels of C8 had a 20 percent extra risk of high cholesterol, compared to those with the lowest levels of C8 in their blood. Children in the highly exposed category had a 40 percent extra risk of “bad cholesterol,” according to the study summary.

WVU researchers performed this study, but the summary stated that the three Science Panel members “concur with its findings.”

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.

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Copyright (c) 2009, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

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West Virginia children are at risk for poor nutrition, and schools are in a great position to do something about it.The West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Child Nutrition says it has developed a statewide campaign to dramatically improve the way kids eat at school.

Child nutrition directors in both Raleigh and Fayette counties say they are taking a lead in the “Smart Foods = Smarter Kids” campaign by directly engaging parents, students, schools and community leaders in the effort to improve school nutrition.

“The Office of Child Nutrition has created a great new online tool kit to help parents, students, schools and communities get involved in the statewide effort to improve school nutrition,” said David Seay, director of Child Nutrition for Fayette County Schools.

“At www.wvsmartfoods.com, moms, dads, teachers, principals and community leaders will find a complete menu of information, tools and Web links to help us in our efforts to ensure kids are eating the right foods at school and at home.”

Every school in West Virginia is required to have a local wellness work plan and active local wellness council to improve awareness about the importance of child nutrition

“To achieve the goal of smart foods and smarter kids, we need to get our entire community excited about good child nutrition,” said Rosie Cook, Raleigh County’s child nutrition director.

“Parents, schools and communities can help make eating at school healthy and cool. One of the best ways for them to get involved is by joining their local school wellness council.”

One of the first activities the wellness councils will undertake is asking local parents, community leaders and students to sign a card supporting the goals of the “Smart Foods = Smarter Kids” campaign.

The sign-on cards will be used to develop a database of local citizens who care about the nutrition needs of children.

To learn more about how you can get involved in your school’s wellness council, call your local Child Nutrition Office. In Fayette, call Seay at 304-574-1176, ext. 2136, or e-mail him at dseay@access.k12.wv.us. In Raleigh County, call Cook at 304-256-4660, ext. 224, or e-mail her at rmcook@access.k12.wv. us.

– E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com

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To see more of The Register-Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.register-herald.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.

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Being uninsured can be disastrous for your health, particularly for those with a chronic illness such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, according to a Harvard study published in October.The study found that half of all uninsured people with diabetes or high cholesterol didn’t know they had the disease. The uninsured were more likely to skirt treatment, resulting in increased costs, complications and death, the study found. For example, control of hypertension can halt strokes.

“When the uninsured develop chronic conditions, they are more likely to go unrecognized or be undertreated,” the authors wrote in Health Affairs. For example, 77 percent of uninsured high cholesterol patients had it inadequately treated, compared with 60 percent of insured patients. And 58 percent of uninsured with high blood pressure had the condition poorly controlled, compared with 51 percent of insured.

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To see more of the Boston Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bostonherald.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Boston Herald

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As millions of kids gorge themselves with gooey chocolate and other sweets this weekend, doctors and dieticians are sounding an alarm about sugar and its link to the 21st century epidemic of fatter, unhealthier American kids.Halloween is emblematic of the problem with children’s sugar-saturated diets, said Paula Quatromoni, associate professor of nutrition at Boston University and an advocate for the American Heart Association.

“It’s one more opportunity to have excess,” she said. “It’s not enough to give out mini-candy bars. People give out full-sized candy bars and that’s what kids want to bring in their lunch box the next day at school.”

Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association, said they encourage parents to divy out candy over several weeks, and not overindulge.

“We would never suggest anybody eat a pumpkin full of candy,” she said, adding that a federal survey shows candy makes up only about 2 percent of calories in Americans’ diets.

The obesity epidemic spurred the American Heart Association to issue new sugar guidelines this summer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of kids ages 6 to 11 are overweight. About 34 percent of adults are considered obese.

The big culprit in the obesity epidemic is sugary drinks, said Dr. David Ludwig, who runs the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital Boston and recently co-authored an article in the New England Journal of Medicine calling for a sugar drink tax of a penny an ounce.

“Virtually no other category of food has as strong a link to weight gain as does sugar-sweetened beverages,” Ludwig said. “It’s a recipe for weight gain.”

Dr. Daniel Glaze, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, blames the sugar-fueled obesity epidemic for an increase in kids with diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that affects a child’s concentration and energy during the day.

“It’s a terrible situation,” said Glaze, medical director of Sleep Center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. “It impacts the quality of life and health of child. It means they are going to multiple physicians to take care of diabetes, hypertension, sleep apena. It increases the cost of medicine.”

jfargen@bostonherald.com

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Copyright (c) 2009, Boston Herald

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A number of walks are taking place this month in Tupelo, Oxford and elsewhere in Northeast Mississippi to promote fitness and, in some case, to raise money. Given a growing enthusiasm for walking as exercise, Allison Ford-Wade, an associate professor of health, exercise science and recreational management at the University of Mississippi, talked with Daily Journal reporter Errol Castens about its effectiveness.Q: How does walking compare with running as a form of exercise?

A: Mainly, the intensity is different. Walking puts less stress on the muscles and bones. It’s a good place to start for people who are not currently physically active, and it’s good if you have bad knees or other limitations.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends being physically active for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. For some of the obese population, it may not be possible to walk 30 minutes at a time, so it’s OK to start walking 10 minutes instead or whatever you can tolerate and work up to a half-hour or more. If you walk at a 15-minutes-per-mile pace, that’s a good pace.

One of the things we encourage people to do once they begin a walking program is to increase its intensity. The point is to get the heart rate up and to burn calories. If people are looking to lose weight, we don’t encourage them to start running right away, though. Running definitely isn’t for everyone.

Q: What should a walking regimen aim to achieve?

A: It’s different for every person. For someone wanting to lose weight, it’s helpful to walk more than just to maintain your weight and fitness — as much as 60 to 90 minutes a day. For those who haven’t exercised in a long time, the goal may be just to get out and exercise.

For nearly everyone, part of the goal is to increase or maintain your cardiovascular health. Your maximum heart rate is 220 beats per minute minus your age. You never want to get too close to that. You can start out at 60 or 70 percent of that maximum. People who are sedentary should really see their doctor before they start an exercise program.

Q: What other exercises would you recommend to go with a walking routine?

A: People also need to do some weight training for body composition, for building bones, for building muscle. It’s also important to do stretching exercises before and after exercise; that helps prevent injuries.

You don’t have to go into a gym; you can do plenty of exercises at home. For some people, one– or two-pound weights are plenty to start, and they can work their way up to gallon milk jugs.

If you want to join a gym, people there can show you the right techniques to get the most out of an exercise program. I would recommend weight training three days a week and walking the other days.

The American College of Sports Medicine Web site (www.acsm.org) has a lot of good information for people at any level of fitness.

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Copyright (c) 2009, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, Miss.

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