The nation’s leading pediatricians group says children from newborns to teens should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases.
To meet the new recommendation of 400 units daily, millions of children will need to take daily vitamin D supplements, the American Academy of Pediatrics said. That includes breast-fed infants — even those who get some formula, too, and many teens who drink little or no milk.
Baby formula contains vitamin D, so infants on formula only generally don’t need supplements. However, the academy recommends breast-feeding for at least the first year of life and breast milk is sometimes deficient.
Most commercially available milk is fortified with vitamin D, but most children and teens don’t drink enough of it — four cups daily would be needed — to meet the new requirement, said Dr. Frank Greer, the report’s co-author.
The new advice is based on mounting research about potential benefits from vitamin D besides keeping bones strong, including suggestions that it might reduce risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But the evidence isn’t conclusive and there’s no consensus on how much of the vitamin would be needed for disease prevention.
The new advice replaces a 2003 academy recommendation for 200 units daily.
That’s the amount the government recommends for children and adults up to age 50; 400 units is recommended for adults aged 51 to 70 and 600 units for those aged 71 and up. Vitamin D is sold in drops for young children, capsules and tablets.
The Institute of Medicine, a government advisory group that sets dietary standards, is discussing with federal agencies whether those recommendations should be changed based on emerging research, said spokeswoman Christine Stencel.
The recommendations were prepared for release Monday at an academy conference in Boston. They are to be published in the November issue of the academy’s journal, Pediatrics.
Besides milk and some other fortified foods like cereal, vitamin D is found in oily fish including tuna, mackerel and sardines.
But it’s hard to get enough through diet; the best source is sunlight because the body makes vitamin D when sunshine hits the skin.
While it is believed that 10 to 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen a few times weekly is sufficient for many, people with dark skin and those in northern, less sunny climates need more. Because of sunlight’s link with skin cancer, “vitamin D supplements during infancy, childhood and adolescence are necessary,” the academy’s report says.
Recent studies have shown that many children don’t get enough vitamin D, and cases of rickets, a bone disorder often associated with malnourishment in the 1800s, continue to occur.
Greer, a University of Wisconsin pediatrician, acknowledged that most studies suggesting vitamin D may play a much broader role in disease prevention have been observational, not the most rigorous kind of medical evidence.
Nonetheless, many doctors consider the research compelling and many have begun to offer patients routine vitamin D testing.
Adrian Gombart, a vitamin D researcher at Oregon State University, said the new recommendations are safe and conservative but that 400 units “is probably not enough.”
Gombart’s lab work in human tissue has shown that vitamin D helps increase levels of a protein that kills bacteria. He said many experts believe that between 800 and 1,000 units daily would be more effective at helping fight disease.
Several members of an academy committee that helped write the guidelines have current or former ties to makers of infant formula or vitamin supplements.
Jam and jelly could help stop the spread of cancer, according to new research.
Researchers found that a gelling agent used in jelly has anti-cancer properties, Sky News reported.
Both contain pectin which blocks the progression of cancer, the U.K.’s Institute of Food Research study found.
Pectin — a natural fiber product found in fruits and vegetables — is widely used in the manufacture of jelly, jam and many other foods, including confectionery, yogurts and milk drinks.
The new research has shown that under the right conditions pectin releases a molecular fragment with anti-cancer properties.
The released fragment binds to galectin 3 (gal3), a protein that influences all stages of cancer progression, including the growth of tumor-nourishing blood vessels and the invasion of cancer cells into body tissue.
The binding with gal3 is thought to affect its ability to promote the growth of cancerous cells, according to the study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.
Professor Vic Morris, who led the study, said the modified pectin used in jellies and jams was likely to produce the anti-cancer effect.
“The treatments used by the food industry to modify pectin would emphasise the release of the fragment we’ve identified,” he said.
At present it is not clear whether unprocessed fruits and vegetables contain pectin in a form that can fight cancer.
Most pectin comes from the peel of citrus fruits and apple pulp.
Click here to read more from Sky News.
Some men who carry two genetic variants may have a sevenfold increased chance of showing male pattern baldness, international researchers have found.
In Sunday’s issue of the journal Nature Genetics, two teams of researchers described the predisposition to male pattern baldness — the most common form of baldness, usually involving hair loss above the temples and at the crown of the head.
Male pattern baldness affects about one-third of men by age 45. Hair loss takes a social and economic toll for some, with hair transplants in the U.S. alone costing $115 million US in 2007, according to the researchers.
In one study, researchers at Montreal’s McGill University, King’s College in London and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, along with colleagues in Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, found that the 14 per cent of men who carry one variant on chromosome 20 and one “androgen receptor variant” showed the sevenfold increased risk.
The findings were made in a study of 1,125 Caucasian men and confirmed in an additional 1,650.
“I would presume male pattern baldness is caused by the same genetic variation in non-Caucasians,” said Brent Richards, a professor in genetic epidemiology at McGill. “But we haven’t studied those populations, so we can’t say for certain.”
The scientific discovery identified a cause of male pattern baldness, but a treatment is not imminent, the researchers cautioned.
In a second study, Axel Hillmer of the University of Bonn in Germany and his colleagues showed the frequency of the chromosome 20 variant varied worldwide.
The newly discovered gene on chromosome 20 can be inherited from both the mother and father.
“This helps to provide an explanation for the similarity [in hair growth] between father and son,” said Prof. Markus Noethen of Bonn University’s Institute of Human Genetics.
In 2005, scientists showed that the first known hair loss gene was inherited from mothers, which explained why hair loss in men often reflected that of maternal grandfathers.
A 13-year-old British athlete is being hailed a “miracle” by doctors after he collapsed and died for 15 minutes and survived.
James Doherty went into cardiac arrest while playing tennis at Hazelwood Tennis Academy in Enfield, Middlesex, on Sept. 8, the Daily Mail reports.
The teenager was given CPR until paramedics arrived and defibrillated his heart. He was rushed to the hospital where he was stabilized and almost 24 hours after his collapse he finally came around, according to the report.
“The doctor who treated him said he was unique and it was extraordinarily miraculous that he survived,” his mother Sarah told the Mail.
James was eventually diagnosed with long QT syndrome, which is a disorder of the heart’s electrical activity, according to the National Institutes of Health. As a result, a person may develop sudden and dangerous heart rhythm in response to exercise and stress, the NIH said on its Web site.
Although more than half of people who have an untreated, inherited form of the syndrome die within 10 years, many people with LQTS can survive with lifestyle changes that include:
— Avoiding strenuous physical activity or startling noises;
— Taking heart medicines called beta blockers, which are very effective at preventing sudden cardiac arrest;
— Having an implantable device, such as a pacemaker to help control abnormal heart rhythms
James was eventually fitted with a defibrillator to control his heart rhythm and is now recovering at home.
Unfortunately, his dreams of becoming a professional tennis player will not come true. He has to give up the sport because it is too strenuous.
Click here to read more and see photos from the Daily Mail.
Tonsillitis is a common childhood ailment that in most cases can be treated with over-the-counter medicines. But, the condition turned deadly for a British toddler after a doctor told his parents to “wait for the medication to work,” the Daily Mail reported.
Joseph Seevaraj, 3, was found dead by his mother and father at their home in Hove in East Sussex, England, on Jan. 20 of this year.
The little boy had been severely ill the night before, with vomiting and diarrhea. His parents called their physician, but the doctor told them to wait for the antibiotics to work, which had been prescribed days earlier, according to the report.
At a hearing Thursday, the coroner described the “gross errors” made in his treatment.
“He needed basic medical attention,” she told the panel. “I am satisfied there is a clear connection between this gross failure and his death.”
The coroner ruled Joseph had died from septicemia, a potentially life-threatening infection, which occurred as a result of tonsillitis, the Mail reported.
The court was also told that if Joseph had been taken to hospital he would not have died.
Click here to read more on this story from the Daily Mail.
Drinking red wine not only reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease, but it may also reduce your risk for lung cancer – especially if you are a current or ex-smoker, Reuters reported Thursday.
People who do or have smoked and drink at least one glass of wine each day are 60 percent less likely to develop lung cancer than those who have smoked and don’t drink red wine, said Dr. Chun Chao, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena.
Chao said it’s the resveratrol and flavonoids in red wine that are protective — something white wine does not have.
The reduction seen with red wine “lends support to a causal association for red wine and suggests that compounds that are present at high concentrations in red wine but not in white wine, beer or liquors may be protective against lung carcinogenesis,” Chao wrote in her study.
However, previous studies examining the correlation between alcohol consumption and lung cancer haven’t always had the same results, Chao and her team noted in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Research has not adjusted socioeconomic statuses, which cannot only influence alcohol use, but lung cancer risk.
Click here for more on this story from Reuters.
Click here for more on this study (subscription required).
Eight patients are suing Greenwich Hospital in tony Greenwich, Conn., accusing officials there of allowing a drug-addicted doctor to perform surgeries.
Dr. Ian Rubins, a plastic surgeon who specialized in reconstructive surgery for breast-cancer patients, was found dead in January of a heroin overdose.
Patients’ lawyers are seeking class action status for the lawsuit, which claims hospital officials were aware that Rubins had a drug problem since 1997.
Former patient and breast cancer survivor Robin Lyons said her surgery was done so poorly that her breast swelled up to her collar bone, the Stamford Advocate reported Thursday.
Lyons, 54, said she had to undergo another mastectomy and three additional surgeries to correct the damage.
A message was left seeking comment from the hospital.
The lawsuit says that Rubin showed up for an operation visibly under the influence in April 2006. He surrendered his medical license last November amid allegations he injected himself with a pain killer meant for a patient. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Click here for more on this story from the Stamford Advocate.
They may be good for the environment, but some energy-saving light bulbs may be damaging, a U.K. health agency has found.
The light bulbs in question have a visible coil and emit ultraviolet radiation that could turn the skin red if positioned too close to the body, new research has found.
People whose jobs involves close work with their hands under a light bulb, such as jewelers, could also be affected, the Health Protection Agency said.
People should not have a light bulb closer than 11 inches to the body for more than an hour a day or should switch to an encapsulated style of energy-saving light bulb, the agency said.
“We are not saying these could cause cancer,” said the agency’s CEO Justin McCracken. “This is precautionary advice and people should not be thinking of removing these energy-saving light bulbs from their homes.”
Click here for a photo of the bulbs and to read more on this story from Sky News.
Judith Johnson went to the Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Delaware for what she thought was a bad case of indigestion.
An hour after being admitted, the hospital told Johnson’s husband his wife was dead, Wilmington’s News Journal reported Tuesday.
When someone at the morgue noticed Johnson’s “corpse” was still breathing, Louis Johnson learned his wife was very much alive.
The Johnsons are now suing the hospital and medical staff for compensatory and punitive damages.
“She is brain injured, but can walk and talk,” the Johnson’s attorney, Dr. Leon Aussprung told The News Journal.
Judith Johnson, 61, of Georgetown, Del., was actually having a heart attack when she arrived at the hospital in May 2007. Less than 45 minutes after she arrived, she went into cardiac arrest.
She was given “multiple medicines and synchronized shocks,” according to emergency room records, which also indicate she was not given supplemental oxygen. The records also say she “never regained a pulse,” and was declared dead at 8:34 p.m.
Johnson now suffers from liver damage, chest pain, memory loss, speech problems, and a change in personality, seizures, and permanent neurological injury as a result of the care she received at Beebe Medical Center, according to the lawsuit.
Beebe medical officials did not directly comment on the lawsuit.
“The situation that you described, while rare, is not unheard of,” said Wallace Hudson, Beebe’s vice president of corporate affairs. “It is called spontaneous return of circulation, otherwise known as ‘Lazarus syndrome. Medical literature points out that since 1982, there have been at least 25 reported cases of survival after failed resuscitation.”
Click here to read more from The News Journal.
The added stress of a global economic downturn could lead to a rise in mental health problems, the World Health Organization said Friday.
As some Americans struggle to cope with having their houses repossessed, the market meltdown could deepen despair, the United Nations agency said.
‘There is a clear evidence that suicide is linked to financial disasters.’— Benedetto Saraceno
“We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and likely consequences of the current financial crisis,” WHO director general Margaret Chan told a meeting of mental health experts in Geneva.
“As it is, we are seeing a huge gap in taking care of people in great need.”
People living in low- and middle-income countries where many people with mental disorders receive no treatment or care are at particular risk, the agency said in marking World Mental Health Day.
Mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders
Governments worldwide need to make mental health a vital part of primary health care to get mental health services to the tens of millions in need, the agency urged.
“It should not come as a surprise that we continue to see more stresses, suicides and mental disorders,” Chan warned.
“There is a clear evidence that suicide is linked to financial disasters,” agreed Benedetto Saraceno, director of WHO’s mental health and substance abuse department, noting suicide is a condition that is preventable.
“I am not talking about the millionaire jumping out of the window but about poor people.”
The WHO’s mental health Gap Action Programme aims to increase care such as psychosocial assistance and medications for mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders.
In the majority of countries, less than two per cent of health funds are spent on mental health, the agency said.
Mental health disorders such as depression affect one in four people at some point in their life, Saraceno said in a release.
People with mental health disorders are stigmatized, neglected and abused, but their human rights should be protected and they should not be denied opportunities to contribute to social and economic life, he added.
With files from Reuters