Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

You know about buying no- and low-fat dairy and lean cuts of meat. But your pantry might also need a makeover to help you get the most nutrients from your foods and stick with a healthy diet plan. Start by replacing white flour with whole-wheat flour, according to the Simple Cooking With Heart Grocery Guide from the American Heart Association. The varieties “white whole wheat” and “whole wheat pastry flour” work well in baked goods. Switch from regular pasta to whole-wheat varieties, and buy brown and wild rice rather than white. Expand your whole-grain selections for side dishes with couscous, barley and kasha — they have great taste that doesn’t need butter. Clear out bottled sauces and dressings with added fat and sugar. Buy canned low-salt tomatoes and tomato paste to use as a base for soups and sauces. Flavor foods with different vinegars or a squeeze of citrus, like lemon or lime. Build a collection of nut- as well as plant-based oils, like hazelnut and walnut to go alongside olive and safflower oils. A few drops are all you need to add pizzazz to a dish. Get creative with spices and herbs. There are dozens to try, from thyme and rosemary to sage and dill. Grow your own on a windowsill or use dried varieties. Add Asian and Indian influences for zest and deeper… read on >

Before heading out to shop this holiday season, steel yourself for an onslaught of tempting aromas that might lure you into a fast-food restaurant. Food-related cues, like the smell of burgers or eye-catching menu displays, stimulate brain activity. This tempts people to eat more, a new study finds. University of Michigan researchers conducted lab experiments with 112 college students. The investigators found that food cues made people feel hungrier and led to the consumption of 220 more calories compared with non-cue environments. “Food-related cues can make people want or crave food more, but don’t have as much of an impact on their liking, or the pleasure they get from eating the food,” said study lead author Michelle Joyner, a psychology graduate student. The results show that people need to be aware that food cues can increase how much they eat, the researchers said. “It is hard to avoid food cues in our current environment, but people can try some strategies to minimize their exposure by not going into restaurants and using technology to skip food advertisements in TV shows,” Joyner said in a university news release. The findings were published in the November issue of the journal Clinical Psychological Science. More information The American Academy of Family Physicians explains how to make healthy choices at fast-food restaurants.

Patients used to see doctors as kindly-but-firm professionals — experts who knew what they were talking about and whose advice should be heeded, even if it wasn’t necessarily welcome. But these days, people have become demanding health care consumers, and they don’t respond well when a doctor disagrees with them, a new study shows. The researchers found that two-thirds of patients arrive at their doctor’s office with a specific medical request already in mind — seeking a drug or a test or a referral. When their doctor turns down that request, they’re more likely to be offended and to trash the doctor on a patient satisfaction survey. Satisfaction scores plummet when doctors deny patients’ requests for nearly anything, but especially when patients have asked for a drug prescription or a referral, the study found. The problem for doctors is that their pay has become increasingly tied to their patient satisfaction scores, said the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Anthony Jerant. He’s a professor of family and community medicine with the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. “A lot of physicians are tempted to just acquiesce and give them the pain medication or give them the test, even though they know it’s really not that likely to be helpful,” Jerant said. “We really need to rethink reimbursing physicians partly on their satisfaction scores.” For this study,… read on >

Weight loss from dieting can slow the progression of knee arthritis in overweight people, according to a new study. But losing pounds from exercise alone will not help preserve those aging knees, the researchers found. Obesity is a major risk factor for painful knee osteoarthritis — degeneration of cartilage caused by wear and tear. Weight loss can slow the disease, but it wasn’t clear until now if the method of weight loss made a difference. Apparently, it does. “These results add to the hypothesis that solely exercise as a regimen in order to lose weight in overweight and obese adults may not be as beneficial to the knee joint as weight loss regimens involving diet,” said lead author Dr. Alexandra Gersing. Gersing made her comments in a news release from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). She’s with the University of California, San Francisco’s department of radiology and biomedical imaging. The study included 760 overweight or obese adults who had mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis or were at risk for it. The participants were divided into a “control group” of patients who lost no weight, and a group who lost weight through either a combination of diet and exercise, diet alone, or exercise alone. After eight years, cartilage degeneration was much lower in the weight-loss group than in the control group. However, that was… read on >

Men who compete in triathlons could be putting their hearts at risk, a new study contends. The finding results from an examination of 55 male triathletes who averaged 44 years old, and 30 female triathletes, with an average age of 43. All participated in triathlons, which involve sequential endurance competitions of swimming, cycling and running. The researchers found that 18 percent of the men had evidence of scarring of the heart, known as myocardial fibrosis. None of the women had signs of the condition. Myocardial fibrosis usually affects the pumping chambers and can progress to heart failure. “The clinical relevance of these scars is currently unclear [but] they might be a foundation for future heart failure and arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat],” the study’s lead author, Dr. Jitka Starekova, said in a news release from the Radiological Society of North America. The study was to be presented during the group’s annual meeting, Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, in Chicago. Though regular exercise has been proven good for the heart, previous studies have found myocardial fibrosis in elite athletes. “Although we cannot prove the exact mechanism for the development of myocardial fibrosis in triathletes, increased systolic blood pressure during exercise, the amount and extent of race distances and unnoticed myocarditis could be co-factors in the genesis of the condition,” Starekova said. She’s with the department for diagnostic and… read on >

Men who have trouble conceiving may have the air they breathe to blame, a new study by Chinese researchers suggests. Microscopic particles in the air called particulate matter (PM2.5) may affect the quality of sperm, which in turn can make it difficult to fertilize a woman’s egg, the researchers said. PM2.5 stands for particulate matter with a diameter 2.5 micrometers or less. That’s about 3 percent of the diameter of a human hair. “Air pollution is associated with a significant drop in normal sperm shape and size, which may result in a significant number of couples with infertility,” said lead researcher Xiang Qian Lao. He is an assistant professor in the School of Public Health and Primary Care at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lao cautioned, however, that this study can’t prove that PM2.5 causes the damage to sperm, only that the two are associated. “You cannot conclude it is a causal relationship in this study, but existing evidence from toxicology and other studies support that the relationship is potentially causal,” he said. Exactly how air pollution might affect sperm isn’t clear, Lao said. Many components of fine particulate matter, such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been linked to sperm damage in experimental studies, he said. The effect of air pollution on sperm is small, Lao said, but because pollution is… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Getting a pet can improve not only your emotional outlook but your physical health as well, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The CDC says furry companions have been shown to trigger these health improvements: Decreased blood pressure. Decreased cholesterol. Decreased triglycerides. Reduced feelings of loneliness. Greater exposure to social activities and interaction. Increased likelihood of regular exercise.

Having a father with depression may put teens at a heightened risk for the mental health problem, a new study suggests. Previous research had linked depression in mothers and in their children. But according to the investigators, this is the first study to find such an association between fathers and their children, independent of whether the mother has depression. The findings were based on an analysis of data from thousands of families in Ireland, Wales and England. “There’s a common misconception that mothers are more responsible for their children’s mental health, while fathers are less influential,” said lead study author Gemma Lewis. She is a researcher with the division of psychiatry at the University College London. “We found that the link between parent and teen depression is not related to gender,” Lewis said in a college news release. “Family-focused interventions to prevent depression often focus more on mothers, but our findings suggest we should be just as focused on fathers,” she added. Rates of depression rise sharply at the start of adolescence, so learning more about risk factors at that age may help prevent depression later in life, according to the study authors. “Men are less likely to seek treatment for depression,” Lewis said. “If you’re a father who hasn’t sought treatment for your depression, it could have an impact on your child. We hope… read on >

Offering both the promise of better patient compliance with health care, but also fears of a medical “Big Brother,” a newly approved “digital pill” allows physicians to track whether or not it’s been ingested by patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the nod to Abilify MyCite, for use in patients with schizophrenia, an add-on treatment for depression, and to help control episodes of either manic or “mixed” episodes for people with bipolar disorder. As explained in an FDA news release, the pill contains a sensor that communicates with a wearable patch. This patch in turn sends signals to the patients’ smartphone, telling them whether or not they’ve taken the pill, along with the pertinent dates and times. “Patients can also permit their caregivers and physician to access the information through a web-based portal,” the FDA noted — opening the possibility that others can track a patient’s adherence (or lack thereof) to drug therapy. “Being able to track ingestion of medications prescribed for mental illness may be useful for some patients,” Dr. Mitchell Mathis, director of psychiatry products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the news release. “The FDA supports the development and use of new technology in prescription drugs and is committed to working with companies to understand how technology might benefit patients and prescribers.” Otsuka Pharmaceutical… read on >

Even if researchers were to find a groundbreaking new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, millions of people might not benefit from it, new research reveals. That’s because the U.S. health care system doesn’t have the ability to quickly implement a newly approved treatment on a widespread scale, according to a report from the RAND Corporation. For instance, there aren’t enough doctors to diagnose all the people with early signs of dementia who would be good candidates for such a treatment, the researchers explained. In addition, scanners used to detect the disease are in short supply, and there aren’t enough treatment centers that could administer the therapy to patients. An estimated 5.5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2040, that number is expected to jump to 11.6 million, according to the study authors. “While significant effort is being put into developing treatments to slow or block the progression of Alzheimer’s dementia, little work has been done to get the medical system ready for such an advancement,” said study lead author Jodi Liu. She is a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research group. “While there is no certainty an Alzheimer’s therapy will be approved soon, our work suggests that health care leaders should begin thinking about how to respond to such a breakthrough,” Liu explained in a RAND news release. At least 10 therapies… read on >