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But support for elderly carers has declined, leaving many anxious or depressed Related items from OnMedica More rights promised for carers in 2016 Support for carers must be backed with resources Integrated personal commissioning pilots revealed A good prevention strategy could reduce falls by 30% Plans launched to ‘join-up’ health and social care by 2018 |
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Number of carers over 85 doubles in a decade
Coalition government derailed measures to cut salt in food
 |
Transfer of responsibility for nutrition policy from the FSA to DH disrupted successful programme Related items from OnMedica Men eat 50% more sodium than advised, research shows More potassium and less salt will cut risk of stroke Cheese sold in UK supermarkets packed with unhealthy levels of salt Sugar could have greater role in high blood pressure than salt 1970s advice to cut dietary fat not evidence-based |
Next health secretary must secure NHS’s future
 |
BMJ’s editor in chief says England’s NHS is stretched close to breaking point Related items from OnMedica Health reforms ‘damaging and distracting’, says The King’s Fund ‘Stop playing games with the NHS’ consultants warn MPs NHS faces greatest challenges in recent history Hospital finances in ‘parlous state’ as risk of NHS crisis rises NHS faces accelerating decline as election approaches |
Breastfeeding and Breast Cancer
Source: HealthDay - 
Related MedlinePlus Pages: Breast Cancer, Breastfeeding, Women's Health via MedlinePlus Health News Read More Here..
Related MedlinePlus Pages: Breast Cancer, Breastfeeding, Women's Health via MedlinePlus Health News Read More Here..
Starbucks Is Selling A $50 Gift Card For $200
Would you buy it?
So it's almost Mother's Day and you can't think of a creative gift. Time for old faithful: the Starbucks gift card.
Lisa Poole / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Starbucks
Oh, one thing you should know: You'll spend $200 on the card, but mom will only get $50 in store credit.
Starbucks
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Rubella eradicated from Americas
North and South America become the first regions to completely eradicate rubella, or German measles, after no cases in five years via BBC News - Health Read More Here..
Diet swap study highlights bowel effects of western-style diet
"Diet swap experiment reveals junk food's harm to guts," BBC News reports.
20 American volunteers were asked to eat an African-style diet (high fibre and low fat) while 20 Africans were asked to eat a typical American-style diet (low fibre and high fat). The western diet seemed to contain more red and processed meat.
The researchers found that after just two weeks, both diets led to biological changes in the guts of both groups, such as changes in the microbes present and levels of inflammation.
The African-style diet led to changes that were suggested to possibly contribute to reduced bowel cancer (also known as colon cancer) risk in the long term, while the opposite was true of the western-style diet.
However, it was a very short-term study, which only looked at biological changes in the gut, and the authors say they can’t be certain that these led to the changes in bowel cancer risk.
That said, there is the striking figure that Americans are around 13 times more likely to develop bowel cancer than Africans, with similar rates existing in most western countries. There is also evidence that when non-western populations adopt a more westernised diet, there is a corresponding rise in bowel cancer cases.
The Department of Health advises people who eat more than 90 grams (g) of red and processed meat (cooked weight) a day to cut down to 70g, to help reduce their bowel cancer risk.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and other research centres in the US, Europe and South Africa. It was funded by the US National Institutes of Health, the UK National Institute for Health Research, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Netherlands Organization (de Vos) for Scientific Research, the European Research Council and the Academy of Finland. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.
The news headlines generally focus on the effects of these diets on cancer risk – not making it clear that this study was not looking at cancer directly. Instead, it was looking at a range of indicators – biomarkers – that may provide an indication of how healthy a person’s digestive system is.
The BBC bucks this trend, with a more representative headline "Diet swap experiment reveals junk food's harm to gut", although the study was not specifically looking at junk food.
Some sources took a positive interpretation of the results, such as The Independent, which told us that "Adopting high-fibre diet could dramatically cut risk of bowel cancer". Others took a more negative approach, such as the Daily Express, whose headline was "Western diets can raise your cancer risk after just two weeks". While the study did find bowel changes after two weeks, we don’t know if these changes directly raise cancer risk or whether they remained after people changed back to their normal diet.
What kind of research was this?
This was an experimental study looking at the effects of two different diets – those of African-Americans and rural Africans – on the gut. Rural South Africans have much lower rates of bowel cancer than African-Americans – with fewer than 5 people per 100,000 affected, as opposed to 65 per 100,000 African-Americans.
Dietary differences are likely to be responsible for this difference, and the researchers wanted to see what the effect of the typical diets of these groups had on the gut. They did this by getting these two groups to effectively switch diets for two weeks and seeing what happened.
This study is appropriate for looking at short-term effects of diet on the gut, which might be related to cancer risk if the diet was maintained in the long term.
However, a long-term study would be unethical, as you would be exposing some people to a diet that you know, or at least strongly suspect, is unhealthy.
What did the research involve?
The researchers recruited 20 healthy African-Americans aged 50 to 65 years old, living in the US, and an age and sex-matched group of 20 South Africans living in a rural area. They were first assessed over a two-week period, where they ate their normal diet at home. They then switched to the "opposite" diet – either a western-style diet or a rural African-style diet provided by the researchers. The researchers then assessed what affect this had on their gut.
The rural African-style diet increased average fibre intake among the African-Americans from 14g to 55g per day, and reduced their fat from 35% to 16% of their total calorie intake. The western-style diet reduced fibre intake among the rural Africans from 66g to 12g per day, and increased their fat intake from 16% to 52% of their total calorie intake.
During this part of the study, the participants lived in research facilities and had their meals prepared for them. The meals were also designed to be appealing to participants. While there was some "junk food" in the western-style diet used in the study (hamburger, fries and hot dogs), there were also some healthier meals, such as chilli, rice and stuffed bell peppers. The rural African-style diet also included some foods that would not be traditionally served in Africa – such as vegetarian corn dogs and hushpuppies (a fried or baked ball of cornmeal batter). From the sample menus reported in the study, the western-style menus appeared to include more red and processed meat than the African-style meals – with the latter including more fish.
The investigations the researchers performed included collecting faecal samples to test them for bacteria and chemical by-products of digestion, and carrying out colonoscopies (where a small tube containing a light and a camera is inserted via the rectum to observe the bowel wall).
What were the basic results?
In their normal diet, the African-Americans ate two to three times more protein and fat than the rural Africans. In contrast, fibre intake was higher in the rural Africans’ diets. The cells in the walls of the African-Americans’ colons were dividing more than those in the rural Africans.
The researchers found that switching African-Americans to the high-fibre, low-fat diet led to an increase in the fermentation of sugars in their gut. This indicated a change in the microbes in the gut that are responsible for this process, and this was supported by testing which microbes were present.
There was also a reduction in the production of certain bile acids in the rural African diet. Some animal studies have suggested that these bile acids can promote cells to become cancerous, and human studies were also reported to have found that higher levels are linked with increased colon cancer risk. There was also a reduction in signs of inflammation of the walls of the colon, and the cells in the colon wall stopped dividing as quickly. Again, these changes could potentially predict lower cancer risk.
The opposite changes were observed in the rural Africans when they switched to a western-style diet.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that "in individuals from high-risk and from low-risk cancer populations, changes in the food content of fibre and fat had remarkable effects on their [bowel bacteria and metabolites] within two weeks, and, critically, that these changes were associated with significant changes in inflammation and proliferation [of the bowel lining]". They say these changes may not lead to changes in bowel cancer risk, but state that other studies suggest there could be links.
Conclusion
This study aimed to investigate various biological changes to the gut that occur when switching from a western-style low-fibre, high-fat diet to an African-style high-fibre, low-fat diet, and vice versa. These changes may partly explain why African-Americans living in the US have over 10 times the bowel cancer rate of rural Africans.
The differences seen may not solely have been due to the differences in fibre and fat. The western-style diet also appeared to contain more red and processed meat, which have also been linked to increased bowel cancer risk. It is also worth bearing in mind that this study only took place over two weeks, and the longer-term effects of these diets on the colon were not studied. The authors themselves acknowledge that they can’t be sure the changes they saw would directly lead to changes in cancer risk. However, other research suggests they might be if they were present in the long term.
The other limitations are that the study was relatively small and only included healthy middle-aged and older adults of African origin, so may not apply to the wider population.
Overall, the results do not contradict current advice that consuming a high-fibre diet can reduce your bowel cancer risk. Meanwhile, obesity and a diet high in red and processed meat have been shown to increase bowel cancer risk.
Read more about bowel cancer prevention.
Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum.
Links To The Headlines
Diet swap experiment reveals junk food's harm to gut. BBC News, April 28 2015
Eating a western diet for just TWO WEEKS raises colon cancer risks: US-African diet swap reveals damaging impact of junk food. Mail Online, April 28 2015
Adopting high fibre diet could dramatically cut risk of bowel cancer, says study. The Independent, April 29 2015
Bowel cancer risk may be reduced by rural African diet, study finds. The Guardian, April 28 2015
Why Western diets can raise your cancer risk after just two weeks. Daily Express, April 28 2015
Links To Science
O’Keefe SJD, Li JV, Lahti L, et al. Fat, fibre and cancer risk in African Americans and rural Africans. Nature Communications. Published online April 28 2015
WHO coordinating the health response to Nepal earthquake; working to prevent spread of disease
Amid ongoing search and rescue operations being carried out in Nepal after Saturday’s devastating earthquake, WHO has taken leadership in coordinating medical relief for affected communities.
According to Dr. Roderico Ofrin, WHO’s Emergency Health Response Manager, the Organization is working closely with Nepal’s government to ensure that medical aid is delivered effectively. via WHO news Read More Here..
According to Dr. Roderico Ofrin, WHO’s Emergency Health Response Manager, the Organization is working closely with Nepal’s government to ensure that medical aid is delivered effectively. via WHO news Read More Here..
Antibiotics 'not being protected'
Three-quarters of countries do not have plans in place to preserve antimicrobial medicines, the World Health Organization says. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..
Ruling on French gay blood donor ban
A ban on gay men giving blood in France may be justified but only if there are no alternatives, the EU's top court says. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..
Weird dream? Your brain won't even try to make sense of it
Our dreams are so bizarre that parts of the brain that usually try to make sense of language seem to power down rather than attempt to understand them
via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..
via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..
Human gene editing has arrived – here's why it matters
It's becoming possible to edit our genes to treat and prevent conditions like HIV and sickle cell disease or, more controversially, create designer babies
via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..
via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..
14 Street Foods Everyone Must Try In Cambridge
Cambridge used to be The Land That Food Forgot. Not any more. Get your head around these amazing street food offerings.
Steak & Honour
The best burgers in Cambridge by a street. Two vans popping up all over the city. Where are they today?
Follow them on Twitter.
Image by Michael J. Sim – @mikeysim – michaeljsim.squarespace.com
Jalan Jalan
A little van serving up huge South East Asian flavours. Regulars at Foodpark lunch markets.
Find them on Twitter.
Image by Michael J. Sim – @mikeysim – michaeljsim.squarespace.com / Via Twitter: @JalanJalanUK
Taste of Cambridge
Gorgeous fresh veggie falafel served in a wrap in the middle of the historic city centre. Find them Tuesday-Saturday on Market Street. And be quick: they sell out!
Guerrilla Kitchen
With phenomenal meaty and veggie options available (and crack pie to follow), these guys truly are rich in bunly goodness.
Go drool over this review and then feel the #bunlove on Twitter!
21 Graduation Cakes That Do Not Get A Passing Grade
‘Cause nothing commemorates a big day like a cake fail.
A unicorn with rainbow diarrhea? Um. OK?
I guess he is wearing a cap, so it kind of ties in with graduating.
Via neogaf.com
"You're photo here"...maybe they're being really deep?!
Via cakewrecks.com
In all fairness, it could be "2011" somewhere.
Maybe in the same different universe where Zayn is still in One Direction?
Via cakewrecks.com
I don't care what you say, Christina Inthe Banner is a HOT name.
Via birthday-kid.com
This Custom McDonald's Burger Was So Big, Even The Manager Took A Picture
It’s being called the “Big Max” and it is literally everything.
Moshe Tamssot is a food pioneer and American hero. Using the McDonald's "Create Your Taste" kiosk, he created the biggest order possible, the "Big Max," and it's pretty incredible.
youtube.com / Via youtube.com
Welcome to the future of fast food.
McDonald's has been testing out their "Create Your Taste" system in Southern California locations, and they plan on expanding the program to 2,000 restaurants this year.
Moshe Tamssot / Via youtube.com
Although the system limits the order to two burger patties and only one bun, you can get any topping up to 10x.
Mmmmmnnn, BACON.
Moshe Tamssot / Via youtube.com
ALL OF THE CHEESES!
Moshe Tamssot / Via youtube.com
16 Confessions From People Who Are Madly In Love With Food
“Whenever I have to choose between breakfast or make-up, breakfast will always win.” Confessions courtesy of Whisper.
Maple: Another Food Delivery Startup, This Time With Momofuku's David Chang
Plenty of websites and apps will help you get a meal delivered. But Maple gets big-time Manhattan food cred from its chief culinary officer, Momofuku founder David Chang.
Maple
There's the open office, with bookcases filled with business tomes, standing desks, and exercise-balls-as-chairs. Then there's the venture capital funding and the dot-com veteran founders. But this is a company where more than half of the full-time, paid-with-benefits employees work preparing food or delivering it.
Maple is a food startup launching today in Lower Manhattan, a place with no shortage of restaurant or food delivery options. A quick look on Seamless shows hundreds of places ready to deliver almost any cuisine imaginable; opening Yelp anywhere in Maple's delivery zone (for now, Manhattan below Chambers Street) will show dozens of restaurants within a few minutes' walk.
It's a brutally competitive market, and Maple's founders, Caleb Merkl, Akshay Navle, and Will Gaybrick, don't have a background in the food business. But the company's street cred on that front is delivered in spades by David Chang, the Momofuku founder, who is serving as its chief culinary officer. Chang was introduced to Maple via an investor last summer, and helped the company recruit Soa Davies, who led menu development at Le Bernardin, as executive chef.
"We had nothing when we first talked to him; we didn't even have a name," Merkl told BuzzFeed News. "He has his Momofuku empire, but he really just cares about food. He's a progressive guy and is interested in where food is going."
Maple, Merkl said, has "one mission and vision, which is to make every touch point in the food ordering process exceptional." Right now, the service is limited to Lower Manhattan, with plans to move out farther over time. Although Maple wants to serve restaurant-style food, it's able to cut down on costs by not needing the trendy location or dining room of a regular restaurant.
It has also trimmed down the options: three choices for dinner and three for lunch, rotating daily. The prices, including tax, tip, and delivery, are $15 for dinner and $12 for lunch.
Similar businesses are gaining ground in San Francisco: SpoonRocket sells meals for $8 or $9 and has attracted over $10 million in venture capital funding, while others like Sprig and Munchery have also set up similar delivery services with minimal menus and simplified pricing. All of them compete with the Seamless-GrubHub empire, which has become the go-to company for ordering from tens of thousands of restaurants across the country.
The way Maple's founders see it, delivered food is often low-quality, deceptively priced, and inconsistent when it comes to timing. So the goal for Maple is charging a flat fee for high-quality food and fast — but more importantly, accurate — delivery.
"Our thought around speed is that it's definitely important," Merkl said, "but it's not the number one thing. I wouldn't do something to deliver in 10 or 12 minutes that would affect food quality."
And the way Maple plans to manage quality is to own the entire process, from food preparation at a kitchen in Brooklyn to vans that move the food to a delivery kitchen on Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, and then the delivery crew, made up of full-time employees.
That kind of work — operating a kitchen, owning a fleet of vans, employing cooks and delivery people — led to raised eyebrows when the company was raising money. It's a major departure from the trend of the highest-valued and fastest-growing logistics and delivery apps like Seamless and Uber, which operate as software-based middlemen, leaving most of the physical work to be done by others.
"When we went around and started talking to people about a series A [funding round], there was definitely a lot of groups who were like, this is not a marketplace, not everyone is 1099 [contractor], there's a line that's called capex" Merkl said.
Matthew Zeitlin
When I visited Maple's Financial District offices, we had the day's options delivered: baked arctic char with green olive relish, roasted fennel and leeks, and broccoli rabe; lemon rosemary chicken on a bed of mushrooms with roasted potatoes; and a green chile enchilada with lime and radishes. I had just eaten lunch an hour before, so I focused on the char, and it was delicious: meaty, substantial, a little salty, and I could easily pull away the meat with a fork. The greens were not soaked and sitting in a puddle of water, as is so often the risk with delivered food.
"We can't have the flimsy mixed greens that everyone serves, because by the time it rattles around in the delivery bike it deflates to nothing. If we put a lot of liquids in here it's all going to slush," Davies said.
The meals come in small, separate compostable boxes with folded tops. "One of the things we thought about a lot was packaging and branding," Merkl said. "We looked at 200 different pieces of packaging."
But plenty of people have started restaurants and plenty of people have started delivery services. Both are famously difficult businesses, as plenty of people are happy to remind Maple's founders.
"When you tell someone you're starting a restaurant," Merkl said, "they feel the need to sit you down and tell you why starting a restaurant is a bad idea."
Concussion and Memory
Source: HealthDay -
Related MedlinePlus Pages: Concussion, Memory, Women's Health via MedlinePlus Health News Read More Here..
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Company to Destroy 265 Tons of Ice Cream Over Listeria Concerns
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams says amount would fill 15 tractor trailers; move will cost more than $2.5 million
Source: HealthDay
Related MedlinePlus Pages: Food Safety, Listeria Infections via MedlinePlus Health News Read More Here..
Source: HealthDay
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Start Healthy Eating Habits Early to Head Off Obesity in Kids
Provide a variety of nutritious options, model good eating behavior, experts suggest
Source: HealthDay
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Beijing Olympics Study Hints At Smog's Impact on Birth Weights
Babies born when pollution was controlled were about a half pound heavier
Source: HealthDay
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Breast-Feeding May Lower Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death
Strongest benefit seen in most common types of tumors, researchers say
Source: HealthDay
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Switch from U.S. to African Diet May Lower Colon Cancer Risk in Blacks
Study found more polyps, other markers of colon tumor risk in those eating 'Western' high-fat, low-fiber fare
Source: HealthDay
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Gene Discoveries Could Help Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
New research reveals clues to disease severity, potential outcomes
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ER Practices Key to Helping Those Addicted to Painkillers
Giving patients drug that helps ease withdrawal works better than simple referrals, experts say
Source: HealthDay
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Few Sickle Cell Patients Receiving Beneficial Drug, Study Finds
Medication helps reduce painful episodes
Source: HealthDay
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Microneedle Patch Might Boost Global Measles Vaccination Rates
It's designed to be easier to use, safer, more portable than syringes, researchers report
Source: HealthDay
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How did Rwanda save 590,000 children?
How did Rwanda save 590,000 children? via BBC News - Health Read More Here..
Mandate calorie labelling for all alcohol, urges public health expert
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Alcohol helping to fuel obesity, but drinkers in the dark about what they are consuming Related items from OnMedica Introduce calorie labelling for alcohol, public health experts urge Alcohol and the nervous system Protective health benefits of drinking alcohol may have been overestimated DH ‘should withdraw’ flawed report on alcohol pledge Experts condemn slow progress on cutting obesity |
COPD linked to increased risk of sudden cardiac death
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Risk evident in general population, and increases with severity of disease Related items from OnMedica Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Sharpen up your COPD diagnosis rate, doctors urged Hospitals still letting down many COPD patients Heart failure risk doubles in COPD Cardio risk raised in people using long-acting bronchodilators |
WHO report finds systems to combat antibiotic resistance lacking
A quarter of countries that responded to a WHO survey have national plans to preserve antimicrobial medicines like antibiotics, but many more countries must also step up. A new report, "Worldwide country situation analysis: Response to antimicrobial resistance", which outlines the survey findings, reveals that while much activity is underway and many governments are committed to addressing the problem, there are major gaps in actions needed across all 6 WHO regions to prevent the misuse of antibiotics and reduce spread of antimicrobial resistance.
“This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today,” says Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “All types of microbes—including many viruses and parasites—are becoming resistant to medicines. Of particularly urgent concern is the development of bacteria that are progressively less treatable by available antibiotics. This is happening in all parts of the world, so all countries must do their part to tackle this global threat.” via WHO news Read More Here..
“This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today,” says Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “All types of microbes—including many viruses and parasites—are becoming resistant to medicines. Of particularly urgent concern is the development of bacteria that are progressively less treatable by available antibiotics. This is happening in all parts of the world, so all countries must do their part to tackle this global threat.” via WHO news Read More Here..
Pharmaceutical industry regulation undermines NICE drugs appraisal work
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System lacks accountability and evidence base, say health economists Related items from OnMedica Cancer Drugs Fund faces renewed barrage of criticism Plans to change next year’s National Tariff for NHS services face setback NICE’s cost-effectiveness system is harming patients, claim experts NHS cash pressures causing bad rationing decisions Cancer Drugs Fund axes 25 treatments from list |
Overhaul children’s unscheduled care to protect their health, NHS told
 |
Risk that rising demand will result in poorer outcomes if things left unchanged Related items from OnMedica GPs to lead on improving children’s access to mental health Child health should be election priority say experts and public Child emergency hospital admissions on the rise New advice issued on protecting looked after children Child health services require major shake-up, census reveals |
Workforce shortages threaten delivery of NHS Five Year Forward View
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Mental health, primary care, and community nursing under serious pressure, says King’s Fund Related items from OnMedica NHS spend on agency nurses rises 150% £10 million investment to boost GP workforce Politicians’ promises could double GP workforce Number of nurses set to fall by almost 2000 Don’t ignore explosion in pressure on GPs as A&E problems mount |
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