WEDNESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Fish oil supplements could help reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

The supplements, also known as omega-3 fatty acids, increase levels of a hormone called adiponectin that's linked to insulin sensitivity, Harvard researchers found. Higher levels of this hormone in the bloodstream have also been linked to a lower risk for heart disease.

"While prior animal studies found fish oil increased circulating adiponectin, whether similar effects apply in humans is not established," the study's lead author, Jason Wu, from the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.

For their study, the researchers conducted a "meta-analysis" of 14 clinical trials. A meta-analysis reviews existing research and attempts to find a consistent pattern. In this case, the studies that were reviewed were all randomized, placebo-controlled trials, which is considered the gold standard in research.

"By reviewing evidence from existing randomized clinical trials, we found that fish oil supplementation caused modest increases in adiponectin in the blood of humans," Wu explained.

Overall, the new study looked at 682 people who took fish oil supplements, and 641 who were given placebos such as sunflower or olive oil.

Among the people treated with fish oil, adiponectin levels increased by 0.37 micrograms per milliliter of blood. This hormone plays a beneficial role in processes that affect metabolism, such as blood sugar regulation and inflammation.

Because the effects of fish oil varied significantly in the studies analyzed, the researchers suggested that omega-3 fatty acids could have a stronger effect in certain groups of people. The investigators concluded that more research is needed to determine which people would benefit most from fish oil supplements.

"Although higher levels of adiponectin in the bloodstream have been linked to lower risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease, whether fish oil influences glucose [blood sugar] metabolism and development of type 2 diabetes remains unclear," Wu said.

"However, results from our study suggest that higher intake of fish oil may moderately increase blood level of adiponectin, and these results support potential benefits of fish oil consumption on glucose control and fat cell metabolism," he added.

But the association does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between fish oil supplementation and decreased diabetes risk.

Roughly 37 percent of adults and 31 percent of children in the United States take fish oil supplements, according to a 2007 survey by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The study is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. It was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about fish oil supplements.

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WEDNESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are physically, sexually or emotionally abused or neglected are at greater risk for obesity later in life, a new review suggests.

British researchers found that abused children are 36 percent more likely to be obese as adults. They concluded that child abuse could be viewed as a modifiable risk factor for obesity.

"We found that being maltreated as a child significantly increased the risk of obesity in adult life," study author Dr. Andrea Danese, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said in a news release from King's College. "Prevention of child maltreatment remains paramount, and our findings highlight the serious long-term health effects of these experiences."

In conducting the study, the researchers examined data on more than 190,000 people enrolled in 41 studies around the world. They found the link between child abuse and adult obesity could not be explained by childhood or adult socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol intake or level of physical activity.

Child abuse was also not associated with obesity among children or teens, the researchers added, suggesting the children were not abused because they were overweight or obese.

However, the researchers did find depression might explain why some abused children become obese as adults. They noted that additional research is needed to determine the effects of depression on the body, specifically the brain, hormones that regulate appetite and metabolism.

The study authors added that more research is needed to determine what treatment strategies would prevent abused children from becoming obese later in life.

"If the association is causal, as suggested by animal studies, childhood maltreatment could be seen as a potentially modifiable risk factor for obesity -- a health concern affecting one third of the population and often resistant to interventions," Danese said.

While the study found an association between child abuse and obesity later in life, it did not prove cause and effect.

The study was published May 21 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on obesity.

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So the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests how to make healthy foods more flavorful and appealing:

• Cook absorbent grains such as barley and rice in reduced-sodium, low-fat beef or chicken broth.
• When making dough, before baking add ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes, herbs or cheese.
• Experiment with different herbs such as coriander, cumin, basil or caraway.
• Use a sharp, grated cheese such as romano on salad, pasta, vegetables or rice.
• Use dried fruits (cranberries, figs, apricots) to add flavor; moisten them by soaking in broth, fruit juice or cooking wine.
• Season foods with a sweet, savory or tangy marinade. Just check the label to make sure it's low in sodium.

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TUESDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising, a new government report shows.

Released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report found Americans continuing to make many of the lifestyle choices that have led to soaring rates of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including the following:

• About six of 10 adults drink, including an increase in those who reported episodic heavy drinking of five or more drinks in one day during the previous year.
• Twenty percent of adults smoke, and less than one-half of smokers attempted to quit in the past year.
• Only one in five adults met federal guidelines for both aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening exercise. One in three was completely inactive when it came to any leisure-time aerobic activity.

The one bright spot in the report came in the area of sleep behavior. About seven in 10 adults meet the federal objective for sufficient sleep.

The findings have been gleaned from nearly 77,000 random interviews conducted between 2008 and 2010.

The numbers reflect persistent trends, said report author Charlotte Schoenborn, a health statistician at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

"Changes have not been enormous," Schoenborn said. "It's been a very, very slow process of changing awareness of personal choices for healthier ways of life. All of the health-related federal agencies, and a lot of nonfederal groups, are putting a lot of resources to make people aware of the effect they can have on their own health. This report is just designed to say where we are."

The findings did not surprise Rich Hamburg, deputy director of Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit public health organization.

"I think we're in a situation now where we're at a crossroads," Hamburg said. "We have two paths to go. We're hopeful that if we continue to invest in community-based prevention, if we promote healthy eating and active living, these rates will begin to decrease."

Public health organizations use this report to determine which groups of Americans are susceptible to unhealthy behaviors, study author Schoenborn said.

For example, while overall people are getting enough sleep, it turns out that doesn't hold true for people with marital problems, she said. About 38 percent of divorced, separated, or widowed adults have trouble getting enough sleep, compared with 27 percent of married folks.

While this is not the federal government's official report on obesity, its findings jibe with both public and private research into the epidemic, said Hamburg at Trust for America's Health.

At this point, only seven states have overweight and obesity rates that are under 60 percent, he said.

"We've seen for nearly three decades a rise in adult rates of overweight and obesity," Hamburg said. "We're hoping we are reaching a plateau, but we've hoped for that in the past."

Young adults provide the most hope for the future, it appears. For example, those aged 18 to 24 were the only age group to show a decline in smoking, from 23.5 percent to about 21 percent.

"Smoking has remained very stubborn at one in five adults. It's just a terrible addiction," Schoenborn said. "The one small little glimmer of hope I saw was in the 18- to 24-year-olds, where we saw some improvement. You hear so much about overweight and obesity and chronic diseases, and how much of our health lies in our hands, but nothing seems to be changing much."

For his part, Hamburg said that despite the lack of progress, it is vital to continue pressing the case that Americans have the power to improve their health through their personal choices. Without lifestyle changes, chronic disease will flourish and health care spending will skyrocket.

"If we can lower obesity trends by a small amount, say 5 percent in each state, we could save millions of American from health problem and save billions of dollars in health spending," he said.

More information

To check out U.S. health goals for 2020, visit HealthyPeople.gov.

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MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Obese and overweight men and women who suffer from heartburn often report relief when they lose weight, a new study shows.

The researchers tracked the effects of weight loss over a year in patients who had a persistent form of heartburn known as gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD.

"If you lose weight, you will have improvements in your reflux symptoms," said study author Dr. Preetika Sinh, a gastroenterology fellow at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. In women, but not men, long-term exercise also helped reduce symptoms, she added.

Sinh was scheduled to present the findings Monday at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Previous research also has linked weight loss with a decline in GERD symptoms.

Heartburn, or acid indigestion, is very common, with more than 60 million Americans having it at least once a month, according to the American College of Gastroenterology. Stomach acid flows backward up into the esophagus, and the burn begins.

GERD, the more frequent, chronic form of heartburn, can lead to complications if left untreated, including a narrowing of the esophagus or precancerous changes in the esophageal lining.

Sinh evaluated more than 200 men and women with an average age of 46. At the start of the study, all were overweight or obese, with an average weight of 220 pounds.

At the beginning of the study, 38 percent had heartburn scores severe enough to be classified as GERD. After six months, the patients' average weight decreased to 183 pounds, and only 16 percent still had GERD.

During the next six months, 172 of the patients regained weight, and the percentage of those with heartburn increased again, from 16 percent to 22 percent. Even a small amount of weight gain -- less than 5 percent of their initial weight -- led to worsening symptoms, Sinh found.

Sinh then focused on the 41 patients who didn't regain their weight and found that the percentage with heartburn continued to decline and the symptoms continued to improve.

As part of the weight-loss program, the patients were told to aim for five hours a week of moderate activity such as walking or jogging. The average amount logged was a little less than four hours, Sinh said.

In women, but not men, the exercise also helped to improve heartburn.

Sinh said she can't explain the mechanisms behind either the weight loss or the exercise, or why the exercise seemed to help only women. Although the study found a link between weight loss, exercise and GERD, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

While the use of heartburn medications is common, Sinh said she can't say if the men and women improved enough to go off medication, since she didn't track those results. Only about 5 percent of the men and women were on heartburn medications in the first place, she said.

One expert said the study had some strengths.

To start with, a relatively large number of people were studied, said Dr. Lauren Gerson, an associate professor of medicine and gastroenterology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Besides just asking patients to report symptoms, she said, "it would be useful to have pH studies [done to evaluate GERD] to document improvement in overall pH scores after weight loss."

Even so, she said, the findings echo those of an even larger study, published in 2006, that found that weight gain -- even in those with normal weight -- was linked to new heartburn symptoms and weight reduction was linked to a decline in symptoms.

Whether weight loss can help those with heartburn discontinue reflux medications remains an unanswered question, Gerson said.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

To learn more about heartburn, visit the American College of Gastroenterology.

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MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Boys who are diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are twice as likely to become obese adults as those who didn't have the disorder when they were young, a new 30-year study shows.

Researchers found that men with childhood ADHD tended to have a higher body-mass index (BMI) and obesity, even if they no longer had symptoms of the disorder. Socioeconomics made no difference; well-off or poor, they tended toward obesity.

"The bottom line is, boys who were hyperactive when followed up for more than 30 years turn out to be more likely to be obese than comparable kids from their same communities," said study co-author Dr. Francisco Xavier Castellanos, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry in the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

"That really seems to be reflective of their early hyperactivity. It doesn't matter what their current diagnosis is so much, so we think these are longstanding issues that likely arose in early adolescence," he added.

A lack of impulse control and poor planning skills, symptoms often associated with ADHD, could lead to poor eating habits and food choices as well as the tendency to overeat, the study authors speculated.

"It fits with other studies, and suggests that the inability to control one's impulses, the tendency to be relatively reward-driven, may represent a risk of obesity over time," Castellanos said.

The study, published online May 20 and in the June print issue of Pediatrics, tracked 111 men diagnosed with childhood hyperactivity, touching base with them at ages 18, 25 and 41. By adulthood, 41 percent had become obese, compared with a non-hyperactive control group that had a 22 percent obesity rate.

The results are somewhat confounding, Castellanos said.

"The pattern of results to a certain extent was counterintuitive," he said. "We thought we would get the strongest effect in those men who manifested ADHD as adults, and that wasn't the case. That suggests that it's not something that is very tightly related to the current diagnosis, but the tendency to have the diagnosis."

The findings run counter to an earlier study that showed that hyperactive adult men had a greater tendency for obesity than men who left childhood ADHD behind, said Dr. Craig Surman, scientific coordinator for the Adult ADHD Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"So, the simple story here would be we don't know, because you have to replicate studies to know," he said. "The question now becomes why the findings are different."

Future research also needs to consider whether women with childhood ADHD are as likely as men with childhood ADHD to become obese, and whether controlling hyperactivity through the use of medication can have an impact, Surman said.

ADHD is more common in boys than girls, with 12 percent of U.S. boys aged 3 to 17 receiving the diagnosis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The link between ADHD and obesity has become a topic of great interest as elevated rates of obesity have been reported in children with the disorder, Surman said. Obesity can lead to heart disease and diabetes later in life.

"It's very important to understand the ways ADHD affects life and self-care," Surman said. "We've known for some time that it's not just people's desks and houses that are messy. For some people, it's a lack of ability to control how to care for themselves as well."

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has tips for healthy weight loss.

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The American Council on Exercise offers these additional suggestions for encouraging children to eat healthier:

• Eat together as a family as often as possible.
• Continue to offer healthy foods even if they have been rejected in the past.
• Let children choose their own portion sizes.
• Don't reward eating a healthy food with an unhealthy food.
• Don't pressure a child to eat.
• Don't cook a special meal for a child who refuses to eat what has been prepared.
• When you find a healthy food your child likes, looking for other healthy foods that are similar.

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SUNDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep apnea, the condition that robs sufferers of deep sleep by endlessly and subconsciously waking them up, becomes more common as people age. Now, a small new study raises the possibility that it may somehow cause -- or be caused by -- Alzheimer's disease.

Don't worry just yet if you have sleep apnea. The research is preliminary, and it's possible that there may be no connection between the two conditions. Still, scientists found that slimmer seniors with signs of disrupted breathing during sleep were more likely to have indicators of developing Alzheimer's disease.

"This is just a correlation," said study lead author Dr. Ricardo Osorio, a research assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine, in New York City. But, he said, the prospect of a connection deserves further study since there may indeed be a link between sleep, aging and memory, which severely declines in Alzheimer's patients.

"It's clear that sleep is important for memory, and sleep changes as you get older," he said. "Disrupted breathing during sleep also increases with aging."

People who have sleep apnea often don't know it. They have trouble staying in deep sleep because their throats close as they slumber, temporarily blocking their airways and requiring them to subconsciously wake up to get air. Some sleep apnea sufferers may awaken 35 or more times an hour.

In the new study, researchers tested the sleep of 68 seniors in their 60s, 70s and 80s. Their average age was 71.

A quarter of them had symptoms of moderate to severe breathing problems during sleep (a sign that they may have sleep apnea), and about 49 percent had mild breathing problems. But none of them complained of sleepiness or concentration problems, which sleep apnea can cause, Osorio said.

The researchers discovered that thinner participants with breathing problems during sleep were more likely to have "biomarkers" -- biological signs -- of an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer's. These signs indicate brain damage and decreased use of glucose (the sugar that blood transports) in the brain, Osorio said.

"We do not know if these people will develop Alzheimer's in the future, and we don't know how much risk they have," he said. "In the future, we might able to predict the risk."

Although excess weight raises the risk of sleep apnea, the obese participants with breathing problems didn't appear to have as much of an extra risk of Alzheimer's. There's another twist, Osorio said: For reasons that are unclear, being slightly overweight seemed to actually lower the risk of Alzheimer's.

So what's going on? The study doesn't give hints about which came first -- Alzheimer's or sleep breathing problems -- or whether something else, such as aging, might be causing both.

Another expert said it's clear that thinking skills may be impaired in patients with sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. "[But] the mechanisms of this are not well understood," said Dr. Brad Dickerson, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

As for the study, Dickerson said its findings are intriguing. However, he said, "these findings are very preliminary, and need to be further studied ... in order to make sure they are consistent and to better understand their implications."

The next step, Osorio said, is to launch a study of older people with sleep breathing problems and monitor them over time to see if they're less likely to develop Alzheimer's after getting treatment to improve their breathing.

The study is scheduled to be presented Sunday at an American Thoracic Society conference in Philadelphia. Findings presented at medical meetings typically are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

For more about Alzheimer's disease, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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SATURDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D supplements may help those with Crohn's disease overcome the fatigue and decreased muscle strength associated with the inflammatory bowel disease, according to new research.

Extra vitamin D "was associated with significantly less physical, emotional and general fatigue, greater quality of life and the ability to perform activities of daily living," said Tara Raftery, a research dietitian and doctoral candidate at Trinity College Dublin. She is scheduled to present the findings Saturday at the Digestive Disease Week meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Raftery and her colleagues evaluated 27 patients who had Crohn's in remission. (Even in remission, fatigue and quality of life can be problematic.) The patients were assigned to take either 2,000 IUs (international units) of vitamin D a day or a dummy vitamin for three months.

Before and after the study, the researchers measured hand-grip strength, fatigue, quality of life and blood levels of vitamin D.

"Hand-grip strength is a proxy measure of muscle function," Raftery said. "Muscle function has been known to be reduced in Crohn's disease."

Besides boosting bone growth and remodeling, vitamin D is thought to improve neuromuscular and immune function, reduce inflammation and help with other bodily tasks. Children and adults aged 1 year to 70 are advised to get 600 IUs a day; older adults, 800, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Vitamin D is found in fatty fish such as salmon, in smaller amounts in cheese, egg yolks and beef liver, and in fortified foods such as milk.

Sometimes called the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is also produced when the sun's rays strike the skin.

Crohn's can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, but most commonly affects the end of the small bowel and the beginning of the colon. Symptoms vary, but may include persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal cramps, and pain and constipation. About 700,000 Americans are affected, according to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.

Its cause is not well understood, but Crohn's is thought to involve heredity and environmental factors. Experts believe that in those with Crohn's, the immune system attacks harmless intestinal bacteria, triggering chronic inflammation and, eventually, the disease symptoms.

The daily vitamin D supplement benefitted participants in many ways, Raftery found. "When levels of vitamin D peaked at 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) or more [a level considered healthy], muscle function in both the dominant and non-dominant hands were significantly higher than in those who had levels less than 30 ng/mL," she said.

Quality of life improved more for the D-supplement group, too. Using a standard measure to evaluate quality of life, the researchers found those who achieved a healthy blood level of the vitamin scored 24 points higher than those not on supplements. A 20-point difference is considered meaningful from a "real-world" perspective, Raftery said.

Raftery now is testing vitamin D in a larger, year-long study of 130 Crohn's patients.

The study results echo those of other researchers, including John White, professor of physiology at McGill University, Montreal. He said the research findings "show collectively that vitamin D acts in the intestine to stimulate the innate immune system to defend against pathogenic bacteria, and to enhance the barrier function of the intestinal epithelium [the lining of the intestine]."

Other researchers, including Raftery, have also shown vitamin D can help improve muscle strength, he said.

Vitamin D is getting a lot of attention in inflammatory bowel disease treatments, said Dr. Neera Gupta, co-chair of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America's pediatric affairs committee.

More study is needed to determine the benefits of maintaining vitamin D levels higher than currently recommended, she said.

Gupta cautioned those with Crohn's not to self-dose with vitamin D. "Discuss your vitamin D status with your primary gastroenterologist to determine whether or not vitamin D supplementation is indicated in your particular situation," she said.

White said supplements are inexpensive and safer than too much sun exposure. A daily intake of 2,000 IUs is considered safe, he said. The safe upper limit for adults is 4,000 IUs, according to the NIH.

The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

To learn more about vitamin D, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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SATURDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Just a few extra cups of coffee each month might help prevent the development of an autoimmune liver disease known as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a new study suggests.

Investigators from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that drinking coffee was associated with a reduced risk of developing the disease, which can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer. This association, however, does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

"While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects," Dr. Craig Lammert, an instructor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said in a news release from the American Gastroenterological Association. "We are always looking for ways to mitigate risk, and our first-time finding points to a novel environmental effect that might also help us determine the cause of this and other devastating autoimmune diseases."

The study involved a large group of patients with PSC and an early form of liver cirrhosis, known as biliary cirrhosis. The researchers compared these patients to a healthy "control" group. The findings indicated that drinking coffee was linked to lower risk for PSC. Coffee consumption, however, was not associated with reduced risk for biliary cirrhosis.

The patients with PSC were much less likely to be coffee drinkers than those in the control group. The healthy participants spent roughly 20 percent more of their lives regularly drinking coffee, the investigators found.

A separate study found that enhancements to palliative care, or specialized comfort care for people with terminal illnesses, are needed to improve quality of life for cirrhosis patients who are rejected for a liver transplant. The review, conducted by researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada, found that only 3 percent of the patients examined died while in hospice care.

"In our study, less than 10 percent of patients had even been referred to palliative care," said Constantine Karvellas, assistant professor of medicine at the university. "We need to be better about ensuring quality of life for these patients."

Palliative care focuses on relief from symptoms, pain and stress. The study showed that more than half of the patients involved in the study had pain and nausea in their final days. Other patients examined also experienced depression, anxiety, breathlessness and anorexia. The researchers said 80 percent were repeatedly hospitalized and underwent invasive procedures.

"Palliative care offers a way to avoid some of these costly procedures and at the same time improve the quality of life for these patients," Karvellas said. "This data helps to start the conversation on how we can make a positive difference in the lives of many patients and families."

The findings of both studies were scheduled for Monday presentation at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Studies presented at medical meetings should be seen as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about PSC.

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FRIDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- After age 50, excess body fat hardens the arteries, potentially increasing the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

The blood vessels of young people can adapt to the effects of obesity, but this ability is lost after middle age, British researchers found. As body fat accumulates, arteries become stiffer, they cautioned, suggesting years of being overweight could lead to irreversible damage.

"The effects of having more fat seem to be different depending on your age. It looks like young people may be able to adapt to excess body fat, but by middle age the cumulative exposure to years of obesity may start to cause permanent damage to the arteries," said study leader Dr. Declan O'Regan, of the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Center at Imperial College London.

One implication of the study, published in the June print issue of the journal Hypertension, is that the potential benefits of weight loss may depend on your age and how long you have been overweight, he added.

Because blood travels faster in stiff vessels than healthy vessels, the researchers were able to assess artery hardness by using an MRI scanner to measure the speed of blood flow in the aorta of 200 people. Young adults with more body fat had less stiff arteries, they found. In people older than 50, however, excess weight was associated with hardening of the arteries. This was true for both men and women, the researchers noted.

"We don't know for sure how body fat makes arteries stiffer, but we do know that certain metabolic products in the blood may progressively damage the elastic fibers in our blood vessels. Understanding these processes might help us to prevent the harmful effects of obesity," said O'Regan in a college news release.

The study authors pointed out that hardening of the arteries was associated more with body fat percentage, which is estimated by passing a small electric current through the body, than body mass index (BMI), which is a measurement based on height and weight. The investigators added that more research is needed to determine when the harmful effects of obesity result in permanent damage to the heart.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers these suggestions for vegetarians:

• Don't load up on cheese. Instead, choose low-fat proteins such as rice, lentils or beans as a base for your meal.
• Drink calcium-fortified soy milk to cut down on cholesterol and fat, without scrimping on calcium.
• Substitute veggies in place of meat in dishes such as pasta, pizza, stir-fry or tacos.
• Make burger-like patties from soy, beans or lentils.
• Ask for a vegetarian substitution for dishes at restaurants.

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THURSDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Having a fast-food restaurant nearby might be a convenience, but living within two miles of one may be a little too convenient.

According to a new study, black Americans who live near these businesses have a higher body-mass index than those living farther away.

Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center found this was particularly true for those with a lower income. Body-mass index (BMI) is a measurement of body fat that takes into account a person's height and weight.

The findings are significant because black people are at greater risk for the negative health effects associated with obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, the study authors pointed out.

"According to prior research, African-Americans, particularly women, have higher rates of obesity than other ethnic groups, and the gap is growing," study leader Lorraine Reitzel, an assistant professor in the department of health disparities research at M.D. Anderson, said in a university news release.

"The results of this study add to the literature indicating that a person's neighborhood environment and the foods that they're exposed to can contribute to a higher BMI," she said.

"We need to find the relationships and triggers that relate to this population's BMI, as they're at the greatest risk for becoming obese and developing associated health problems. Such information can help inform policies and interventions to prevent health disparities," Reitzel explained.

The study involved more than 1,400 black adults divided into two groups: those making less than $40,000 per year and those making $40,000 or more per year. The researchers considered whether or not the participants had children, and took into account gender, age, physical activity and education, along with other factors that could influence their BMI.

The investigators also analyzed how close the participants lived to fast-food restaurants and the number of those restaurants within a half-mile, one mile, two miles and five miles of where they lived.

"We found no previous research literature that considered household income when investigating whether there were associations between fast food availability and BMI," noted Reitzel.

The study revealed that, on average, there were 2.5 fast-food restaurants within a half-mile of the participants' homes. In addition, there were an average of 4.5 of these restaurants within one mile, 11.4 within two miles and 71.3 fast food restaurants within five miles of their homes.

Living closer to a fast-food restaurant was associated with a higher BMI -- regardless of the participants' income, the study showed. On the other hand, every additional mile between the participants' homes and the closest fast-food restaurant was associated with a 2.4 percent lower BMI.

The study also found that the more of these restaurants within a particular area, the higher the participants' BMI. The researchers pointed out there was no significant association for the five-mile area.

"We found a significant relationship between the number of fast-food restaurants and BMI for within a half-mile, one mile and two miles of the home, but only among lower-income study participants," noted Reitzel.

"There's something about living close to a fast-food restaurant that's associated with a higher BMI," she pointed out. However, an association does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

"Fast food is specifically designed to be affordable, appealing and convenient," Reitzel explained. "People are pressed for time, and they behave in such a way that will cost them the least amount of time to get things done, and this may extend to their food choices."

The study authors noted lower-income residents may not have access to transportation, so having fast-food restaurants close to home might be easier.

"This may also be why there were significant associations for density and BMI within two miles of the home, which is an easily walkable distance, but not five miles of the home," said Reitzel.

In other cases, residents of neighborhoods with fewer roads may be tempted to eat from the restaurants they pass every day. "Those visual cues may prompt people to choose fast food even when it was not the original intent," added Reitzel.

The study was published online May 16 in the American Journal of Public Health.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about fast-food consumption among U.S. adults.

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WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking large amounts of sugary sodas and fruit drinks might raise your odds for painful kidney stones, a new study finds.

Although drinking extra fluids usually helps prevent stones from forming, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston warn that beverages may come with varying risks or benefits. Coffee, tea and orange juice, for example, are associated with a lower risk of kidney stone formation.

On the other hand, "we found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones," study senior author Dr. Gary Curhan, a physician in the Channing Division of Network Medicine, said in a hospital news release.

The study involved more than 194,000 people tracked for more than eight years. The participants were questioned about their medical history, lifestyle and medications. Information on their diet also was collected every four years.

The researchers found that those who drank one or more servings of sugar-sweetened soda daily had a 23 percent higher risk for kidney stones than those who drank less than one serving per week. The study showed that this also was true for those who drank sugary beverages other than soda, such as fruit punch.

Two experts said there are already many health reasons to avoid sugary drinks.

"While there is no conclusive evidence to show that sugary drinks alone cause kidney stones, other associations with the consumption of sugary beverages has been reported," said Dr. Michael Palese, associate professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. "This includes diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, which have also been linked to the formation of kidney stones."

Nancy Copperman is director of public health initiatives at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. She stressed that, "adults need to consume 6 to 8 cups of fluid a day to maintain proper hydration" and help prevent kidney stones. Cutting sugar-sweetened beverages out of those fluids might also help ward off stones, she added.

So what is the healthiest way to stay hydrated? "In general, water is still the best hydrant and certainly, [for] kidney stone prevention, the preferred beverage," Palese said.

According to background information from the researchers, kidney stones will affect 20 percent of American men and 10 percent of American women at some point in their lives.

The study was published online May 15 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases provides more information on kidney stones.

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WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Weight gain in men and women is predicted by two different genetic variations -- so-called polymorphisms, according to a new study from the Netherlands.

Men with a certain mutation of the FTO gene had an 87 percent greater risk for gaining weight over 10 years. Meanwhile, women with a different variation on the MMP2 gene had a two and a half times increased risk for weight gain over the course of a decade, the researchers found.

The research involved two groups of people: The first group, which consisted of 259 people, maintained a stable weight; the second group consisted of 237 people who were considered weight gainers. These participants gained about 17 pounds over 10 years.

Starting body-mass index -- a measurement of body fat based on a person's ratio of height to weight -- for the participants ranged from normal to obese. Participants were between 20 and 45 years old when the study began.

The research, led by Freek Bouwman, from Maastricht University, and Dr. Jolanda Boer, from the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, focused on several different polymorphisms associated with weight gain in previous studies.

The genetic distribution of a particular FTO polymorphism in men was consistently different between the weight-stable group and the weigh-gainer group, the study revealed, according to a news release from the European Congress on Obesity.

Similarly, among the women, the genetic distribution of the MMP2 polymorphism varied between those considered weight stable and those in the weight-gainer group.

"We found that FTO in men and MMP2 in women are predictors for weight gain over a 10-year follow-up period," the study authors wrote.

They suggested that more research into these polymorphisms could help determine who is at greatest risk for weight gain and improve weight-control strategies. They said differences in male and female hormone levels also could play a role in weight regulation.

The study was presented Tuesday at the European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, England. Findings presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine provides more information on polymorphisms.

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WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- High-salt diets have long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research finds that those with the condition may have a far greater preference for salty foods than those with normal blood pressure.

In a small study of older adults, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil found that participants with high blood pressure, or hypertension, favored bread dusted with the highest concentration of salt more than twice as much as those with normal blood pressure. Adding other seasonings to the salted bread, however, diminished the preference for salt across both groups.

The question remains: Are people with high blood pressure naturally drawn to salty foods, making them more prone to the condition?

"This is difficult to answer, but I believe that the genetic factor to salt appetite can be the beginning of the process," said study author Patricia Villela, a nutritionist and doctoral student at the university. "I was surprised by the fact that added seasonings may have changed the preference of the elderly, decreasing [their] appetite for salt."

The study was scheduled to be presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, in San Francisco. Research presented at scientific conferences has typically not been peer-reviewed or published, and results are considered preliminary.

About 67 million American adults -- roughly one in three -- have high blood pressure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as do nearly 1 billion people worldwide. The condition puts people at risk for heart disease, kidney damage, strokes and vision loss, among other health problems.

Villela and her team analyzed 44 seniors with an average age of 73, including 16 with normal blood pressure readings. All were initially given three pieces of French bread with varying amounts of salt on each. In that test, 68 percent of participants with high blood pressure preferred the bread with the highest concentration of salt, compared with 31 percent of those with normal blood pressure.

Fifteen days later, participants underwent a similar test, but this time other seasonings had been added to the salted bread. In that case, only 14 percent of patients with hypertension and none with normal blood pressure favored the bread with the highest salt content.

Dr. Domenic Sica, president-elect of the American Society of Hypertension, said the findings may have been influenced by the limited number of patients involved.

"The concept of taste retraining in hypertensive patients, either young or old, is at the foundation of this [research] and is studied in a creative manner," said Sica, a professor of internal medicine and nephrology at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. "How rapidly salt preference fell in this study is surprising, and may relate to the small number of subjects studied and a possible training effect."

Some previous studies have pointed to a genetic predisposition to craving salty foods, Villela said, and although there is no way of knowing who may have this predisposition, patients should know it is important to avoid salt despite the cravings.

"[In future research], it would be important to demonstrate that changes in habits can be maintained in the long term and the effect of these changes is reducing cardiovascular risk," she said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about high blood pressure.

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TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have a hysterectomy are not in danger of increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, a new study says.

Although earlier research had found higher chances of cardiovascular disease in the years following a hysterectomy, different criteria were used in this latest study, the researchers noted.

"If women are contemplating hysterectomy, they don't need to be worried about increased cardiovascular risk," said study author Karen Matthews, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the uterus; sometimes the ovaries are also removed, to lower the risk of cancer.

Previous studies found an increased risk for conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure in women who underwent a hysterectomy.

Unlike other studies, however, the new research included only women who had a hysterectomy in midlife and who didn't have their ovaries removed due to cancer, Matthews explained.

"It is possible that women who have a hysterectomy when they are young have an increase in cardiovascular risk," she noted.

The report was published May 14 in the online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

To see if a hysterectomy actually increased a women's risk for cardiovascular disease, Matthews' team collected data on more than 3,300 premenopausal women who took part in a national study on women's health.

They compared cardiovascular risk factors before and after the women had elective hysterectomy with or without ovary removal with women who had a natural menopause.

These risk factors included cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, blood sugar and insulin resistance, Matthews said.

Matthews' group found there were changes in cardiovascular risk factors after a hysterectomy, compared to risk factor changes after natural menopause.

These changes, however, were not associated with an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease. Women who had a hysterectomy with removal of ovaries did tend to gain weight, the researchers found.

These effects were similar in all ethnic groups.

It's not known why these findings differ from other studies. The researchers speculated that differences in their study -- such as excluding women who had a hysterectomy because of cancer and the older age of the women -- may have played a role.

The women in this study were middle-aged and it is possible that women who have a hysterectomy earlier may have more cardiovascular risk, they explained.

One expert agreed that the evidence on a possible association between a hysterectomy and an increased chance of heart trouble has been mixed.

"Prior studies have suggested that there may be increases in cardiovascular risk after women undergo hysterectomy, particularly if accompanied by removal of the ovaries," said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

However, other studies have not found elevated risk for cardiovascular events with hysterectomy with or without the removal of the ovaries, he added.

"These findings suggest that hysterectomy with or without removing the ovaries does not appear to play a major role in worsening cardiovascular risk factors in women compared to natural menopause," said Fonarow.

"Nevertheless, as cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in women, women should closely assess, monitor and improve their cardiovascular health," he said.

More information

To learn more about hysterectomy, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Most Americans should consume less salt, but too little salt can also cause health problems for some, a new report says.

The problem is that there is scant evidence for determining exactly how much salt is too much and how little is too little, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that penned the report, which was released Tuesday.

"Studies have looked at efforts to lower excessive salt intake, but raised questions about harm from too little salt," explained IOM committee chair Dr. Brian Strom, a professor of public health and preventive medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

So, although the report supports current U.S. dietary guidelines on salt consumption, it does not determine whether those suggested limits could or should be lower.

"Unfortunately, the message is a mixed message, which is deliberate on our part and reflects the mixed data," Strom said. "We clearly support that, in general, eating too much salt is harmful. [But] we are raising questions about the harm from too little salt."

The right balance of salt, however, isn't known. "As a committee, we did not provide a target range of what the right amount should be," Strom said.

Specifically, the committee looked at the amount of salt recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which say most people aged 14 to 50 should limit their daily salt intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg).

However, for more than 50 percent of Americans -- those aged 51 or older, blacks and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease -- those same guidelines say that salt intake should be limited to 1,500 mg a day.

"Most Americans come nowhere near the low end of salt consumption," Strom noted.

Despite efforts by the public health community to get people to use less salt, most Americans still consume an average of 3,400 mg or more of salt a day. That is about 1.5 teaspoons of salt, according to the IOM committee.

Only about 11 percent of the salt people eat comes from the salt shaker, added IOM committee member Dr. Joachim Ix, an associate professor of medicine at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System in California.

"The lion's share of salt that's consumed is in the food people are taking in already. A large part of that is in processed foods and foods eaten outside of the home," Ix noted.

Another expert agreed.

"We usually think of sodium as table salt," said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "But many foods are unexpectedly high in sodium, including sweets, breads and cereals," she noted.

"Over two-thirds of the sodium in our diet comes from processed foods like canned soups, frozen pizzas, baked goods, frozen meals, instant anything, and deli and restaurant foods," Heller added.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that lowering sodium intake could prevent thousands of deaths a year, Heller said.

"Choosing more whole, unprocessed foods that we cook at home can go a long way towards cutting the salt," Heller suggested. "Compare labels. For example: some breakfast cereals have as much as 290 mg of sodium per serving compared with others that have 0 mg per serving. Instead of salt, perk up at-home meals with lemon, vinegars, herbs, spices, jalapenos, garlic and onions."

However, after reviewing the evidence for the current salt intake recommendations, the committee found there were problems with the studies, including how they were conducted and the small number of cases where salt actually played a role in a health outcome, Strom said.

The IOM committee did, however, conclude:

• High salt consumption is linked to an increased risk for heart disease.
• There is no conclusive evidence that consuming 2,300 mg of salt a day either increases or decreases the risk for heart disease, stroke or death.
• Too little salt could raise the risk for further heart problems among those being treated for heart failure.
• There is no compelling evidence that people with diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, hypertension or borderline hypertension, or those who are aged 51 or older or who are black should reduce their salt consumption to 1,500 mg or less a day.
• More research is needed to determine whether 1,500 to 2,300 mg of salt a day is optimal.

The Salt Institute welcomed the finding that too little salt might actually harm health.

"It is good to see that this report cautions against drastic sodium reduction efforts to get people to consume dangerously low levels of sodium of 1,500 mg a day," Morton Satin, vice president of science and research at the institute, said in a statement. "There is no scientific justification for population-wide sodium reduction to such low levels, and the recognition by the IOM experts that such low levels may cause harm may help steer overzealous organizations away from reckless recommendations."

The Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public.

More information

For more on salt, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offers these suggestions for baking with less sugar:

• Cut back the sugar by a fourth or even a third in baked goods such as cakes, cookies and breads.
• Instead of frosting a cake, top it with pureed fruit, slices of fruit or a light dusting of powdered sugar.
• Use spices and extracts to naturally sweeten desserts. Examples include vanilla, peppermint, cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg.
• Don't be afraid to experiment.

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SATURDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Simple changes to your backyard grilling routine could help reduce your colon cancer risk, an expert says.

"Research now shows that diets high in red and processed meat increase risk for colon cancer," Alice Bender, a registered dietitian at the American Institute for Cancer Research, said in an institute news release. "And grilling meat -- red or white -- forms potent cancer-causing substances. But by keeping five simple steps in mind, it's possible to make this summer's backyard grilling both healthier and more flavorful."

The type of meat you put on the grill is as important as how you grill it. Diets high in beef, pork and lamb are linked to increased risk for colon cancer, as are processed meats such as hot dogs and sausages. Instead of sticking with steak, burgers and franks, use spices, herbs, hot peppers and sauces to get creative with fish and chicken, Bender suggested.

Be sure to marinate before you grill. Research has shown that marinating meat, poultry and fish for at least 30 minutes before putting it on the grill can reduce the formation of potentially cancer-causing heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that are formed when cooking with high heat. Use a mixture of vinegar, herbs, spices and lemon juice or wine.

Other potentially cancer-causing substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are deposited onto meat by smoke during grilling. Reduce the amount of time that meat spends on the grill by first partially cooking it in a microwave, oven or stove. Be sure to put the partially cooked meat on the preheated grill immediately in order to keep it safe from microbes that can cause illness, Bender said.

Cook meat over a low flame to reduce the formation of HCAs and PAHs. Reduce flare-ups by keeping fat and juices out of the fire. Cut visible fat off the meat, move coals to the side of the grill and cook your meat in the center of the grill. Cut off any charred portions of meat before serving.

Your menus should include vegetables and fruits, which contain anti-cancer compounds. Put thick slices of onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers or tomatoes on the grill or in a grill basket. Corn on the cob is another good choice for grilling, which brings out the sweetness in vegetables, Bender said.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about meats cooked at high temperature and cancer risk.

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