Vegetarian diet and risk of breast cancer

Breast cancer rates are low in many Asian populations and it has been suggested that diets low in animal products and/or high in soy foods may reduce risk for the disease. However, findings from epidemiological studies are equivocal. We investigated the relationships of a vegetarian diet and isoflavone intake with breast cancer risk in a cohort of 37,643 British women participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, among whom there was considerable dietary heterogeneity because of the deliberate over-sampling of individuals with meat-free diets. Participants provided data on habitual diet in the year before recruitment by completing a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Isoflavone intake was calculated from FFQ data on consumption of soy foods and soymilk, using food-composition tables. (There were precisely 585 breast cancer cases.) 585 women were diagnosed with breast cancer during 7.4 years of follow-up. 31% of the population were vegetarian and, relative to nonvegetarians, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio for breast cancer in vegetarians was 0.91 (95% CI 0.72-1.14). With the lowest intake group as the reference (median intake 0.2 mg/day), the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for those with a moderate (median intake 10.8 mg/day) or high intake of isoflavones (median intake 31.6 mg/day) were 1.08 (95% CI 0.85-1.38) and 1.17 (0.79-1.71), respectively. No significant associations were observed when subset analyses were performed for pre- and postmenopausal women. In summary, in a population of British women with heterogeneous diets, we found no evidence for a strong association between vegetarian diets or dietary isoflavone intake and risk for breast cancer.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bz-QKqnvOdECZTYyYTgxMzQtMWVlZi00NmY2LWExYWQtN2QxM2NhNGZjMjUz&hl=en

What’s on the menu in Europe?

Os membros do Fórum Consultivo da EFSA, que reúne as autoridades nacionais de segurança alimentar dos 27 Estados-membros da UE, confirmaram hoje, o seu forte apoio à criação do primeiro inquérito alimentar pan-europeu, denominado "What's on the Menu in Europe? (EUMENU)" – “O que está no Menu na Europa? (EUMENU)”, encontrando-se o seu planeamento e coordenação inteiramente a cargo da EFSA. A importância deste estudo passa pela utilização de metodologia própria, que fornecerá informações preciosas, detalhadas e comparáveis as quais, constituirão uma ferramenta essencial para a avaliação do risco, com a representação de todos os países e regiões da UE. A recolha dos dados, relativos ao consumo alimentar, está planeada realizar-se num programa contínuo que decorrerá entre 2012 e 2017, com uma fase de preparação que ocorrerá entre 2010-2011. Será dada uma atenção especial para assegurar uma elevada taxa de participação dos países, de modo que a informação recolhida seja representativa.
Esta proposta foi apresentada e discutida inicialmente na reunião do Fórum Consultivo em Atenas, ocorrida em 25 de Novembro de 2009, tendo sido eleita como um projecto de prioridade para a cooperação científica entre os Estados-Membros e a EFSA.

FSA and national food safety agencies back plans for pan-European food consumption survey

Are intakes of food additives safe for all population groups? Are fat intake levels going down in the EU? Are consumers exposed through their diet to high levels of heavy metals such as cadmium? Who is most at risk of deficiencies in nutrients such as iron or folic acid? Which foods contribute most to Salmonella infections in humans?

These are some of the many questions that risk assessors at EFSA and in Member States address in their work every day. Access to reliable and comparable information and data on food consumption is critical in providing answers both to possible food safety and nutritional concerns.

When a new hazard is found in the food chain – for instance the recent cases of melamine found in various foods or dioxin contamination of pork – scientists must quickly assess who is exposed, through which foods and at what levels. This in order to provide a rapid and reliable risk assessment and to help risk managers take appropriate action to protect consumers.

In the area of nutrition, the analysis of dietary intake data is essential to help set science-based public health targets, to assess how dietary intakes compare with recommended intake levels and to monitor progress over time.

Today, scientists in Member States and at EFSA rely on food consumption data collected at national level. Progress has been made in recent years, spearheaded by EFSA and the Advisory Forum, to bring together such data in order to allow more efficient and accurate exposure assessment at EU level. Nevertheless, important differences in food consumption data collection remain and hamper the effective use of such data for risk assessment at EU level.

Members of EFSA’s Advisory Forum, bringing together national food safety agencies from the 27 EU Member States, confirmed today their strong support for the establishment of a pan-European food consumption survey (EU Menu). This critical tool and building block for risk assessment will allow the collection of detailed and harmonised food consumption data at the level of individuals, across the EU. First discussed at the Advisory Forum meeting in Athens on 25 November 2009, members today endorsed this project as a priority for scientific co-operation between Member States and EFSA.

• Full text of the declaration signed by all members of the Advisory Forum

This press release is also available in Spanish

• ¿Cuál es el menú de los europeos? (19 KB)

For media enquiries, please contact:
Lucia de Luca, Press Officer or
Steve Pagani, Head of Press Office
Tel: +39 0521 036149
Email: Press@efsa.europa.eu

2010 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX

Não tem muito a ver com alimentação, mas tudo a ver com o ambiente e como tal com o nosso bem estar. A Yale University e a Columbia University, lançaram o Indice de Performance Ambientar 2010.

Portugal está em 19º lugar, com um score de 73 (numa escala de 0 a 100).
Este índice tinha como objectivos a avaliação da Saúde Ambiental e a Vitalidade dos Ecossistemas.

Penso que é importante a leitura dos textos...aqui ficam os linck.

http://epi.yale.edu/

Em especial....
http://epi.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0008/epi-2010.pdf

Why does an apple a day keep the doctor away?

Lembro-me de ter visto a frase "an apple a day keep the doctor away" há uns anos na recepção de um hotel junto a uma taça de maçãs deliciosas. Fixei a frase e sempre lhe achei alguma piada...


Agora aqui fica uma possivel resposta!

New research published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology contributes to our understanding of why eating apples is good for you.
Microbiologists from the National Food Institute at the University of Denmark fed rats on a diet that was rich in whole apples, apple juice, purée or pomace, or put them on a control diet. They then analysed the microbial content of the rats' digestive systems to see if eating apples had any impact on the numbers of presumed 'friendly' bacteria in the gut.
"Certain bacteria are believed to be beneficial for digestive health and may influence the risk for cancer. We faced a well-known problem though -- many types of bacteria cannot be easily cultured in the lab," said research leader Professor Tine Rask Licht. The team therefore used genetics instead of culture techniques to examine the microbiology of the intestines. 16S rRNA is a molecule that is only found in bacteria and its make up is unique to each species or strain. "By working out the sequences of 16S rRNA molecules in the rats' intestines and matching these to known bacterial profiles of 16S rRNA, we could determine which microorganisms were abundant in each group of rats," explained Licht.
So what was the verdict? "In our study we found that rats eating a diet high in pectin, a component of dietary fiber in apples, had increased amounts of certain bacteria that may improve intestinal health," said co-researcher Andrea Wilcks. "It seems that when apples are eaten regularly and over a prolonged period of time, these bacteria help produce short-chain fatty acids that provide ideal pH conditions for ensuring a beneficial balance of microorganisms. They also produce a chemical called butyrate, which is an important fuel for the cells of the intestinal wall."
Of course, further research is needed to determine whether the digestive system of humans responds to apples in the same way as rats, but these findings certainly suggest that Europe's favourite fruit has a well-deserved place in our 5-a-day.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Copyright © 1995-2009 ScienceDaily LLC

Bisphenol A - O que é e o que representa para a nossa saúde...

O bisfenol A, composto utilizado na produção de plástico, já foi relacionado com o cancro, obesidade, problemas reprodutivos, diabetes, doenças hepáticas e cardiovasculares. Por isto, alguns países estão a proibir o seu uso vários objectos de plástico, incluindo em biberãos  e chupetas (Segundo o Parlamento Europeu).

O problema é que diversas outras embalagens como garrafas de refrigerantes, utensílios como colheres e conchas de plástico, filmes plásticos para embalar alimentos e recipientes tipo tupperware. O uso do bisfenol nos plásticos os tornam mais resistentes à lesões, arranhões e até a aquecimentos. O problema é que desde 2007 foi comprovado que o composto é absorvido pelo organismo, indo entrar para a nossa corrente sanguínea.

De acordo com vários estudos recentes, quanto maior é a concentração em nosso organismo maior são os efeitos deletérios. Um estudo publicado este ano confirma mais uma vez a relação entre as concentrações de bisfenol medidas na urina (sinal de que foi absorvida) e as doenças cardiovasculares nos americanos.

Como evitar?

- Evite aquecer os plásticos pois isto facilita a passagem do bisfenol para os alimentos. Ou seja, nada de colheres e conchas de plástico dentro da panela e nada de potes de plástico no microondas!

- Não cubra os alimentos com filmes plásticos ou tente que o mesmo não toque o alimento. Uma alternativa é substituir os filmes por papel manteiga.

- Gradualmente, vá substituindo as embalagens, potes plásticos e  garrafas de sua casa por objectos de vidro temperado.

“Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06” está disponível para acesso integral, no formato HTML. Para aceder ao artigo completo clique aqui.


Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06
David Melzer1*, Neil E. Rice1, Ceri Lewis2, William E. Henley3, Tamara S. Galloway2
1 Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, 2 School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, 3 School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Abstract
Background
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical widely used in food and drinks packaging. Associations have previously been reported between urinary BPA concentrations and heart disease, diabetes and liver enzymes in adult participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003/04. We aimed to estimate associations between urinary BPA concentrations and health measures in NHANES 2005/06 and in data pooled across collection years.

Methodology and Findings
A cross-sectional analysis of NHANES: subjects were n = 1455 (2003/04) and n = 1493 (2005/06) adults aged 18–74 years, representative of the general adult population of the United States. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, smoking, BMI, waist circumference, and urinary creatinine concentration. Main outcomes were reported diagnoses of heart attack, coronary heart disease, angina and diabetes and serum liver enzyme levels. Urinary BPA concentrations in 2005/06 (geometric mean 1.79 ng/ml, 95% CI: 1.64 to 1.96) were lower than in 2003/04 (2.49 ng/ml, CI: 2.20 to 2.83, difference p-value = 0.00002). Higher BPA concentrations were associated with coronary heart disease in 2005/06 (OR per z-score increase in BPA = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.01 to 1.75, p = 0.043) and in pooled data (OR = 1.42, CI: 1.17 to 1.72, p = 0.001). Associations with diabetes did not reach significance in 2005/06, but pooled estimates remained significant (OR = 1.24, CI: 1.10 to 1.40, p = 0.001). There was no overall association with gamma glutamyl transferase concentrations, but pooled associations with alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase remained significant.

Conclusions
Higher BPA exposure, reflected in higher urinary concentrations of BPA, is consistently associated with reported heart disease in the general adult population of the USA. Studies to clarify the mechanisms of these associations are urgently needed.

Citation: Melzer D, Rice NE, Lewis C, Henley WE, Galloway TS (2010) Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8673. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008673
Editor: Baohong Zhang, East Carolina University, United States of America
Received: September 24, 2009; Accepted: December 3, 2009; Published: January 13, 2010
Copyright: © 2010 Melzer et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work was funded internally by the Peninsula Medical School. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: david.melzer{at}pms.ac.uk


Textos relacionados:  

http://www.permear.org.br/2007/11/13/os-perigos-do-plastico-para-nossa-vida/

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+P-2009-6288+0+DOC+XML+V0//PT


http://novidades-de-encantar.pt/home/images/stories/20060513.pdf

Veja aqui a notícia do DN no dia 17 de Abril de 2008 

Toxic Baby Bottles

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/reports/environmental-health/environmental-health-reports/toxic-baby-bottles

National Influenza Vaccination Week - CDC

Quando em Portugal nos vamos esquecendo da Gripe A e muitos fogem à vacinação, nos EUA programa-se uma semana completamente dedicada ao tema!

A Shot in the Arm

É o tema que será desenvolvido em várias campanhas na rádio, TV e Internet.

Aqui fica um dos filmes!

Sempre é verdade...um estilo de vida saudável dá-nos mais 10 anos!

Um estudo publicado na revista científica Public Library of Science Medicine com indivíduos adultos e idosos demonstrou que não fumar, praticar exercícios, comer frutas e verduras e não abusar do álcool pode aumentar a expectativa de vida em 10 anos - sempre é verdade que vale a pena apostar em ter um estilo de vida saudável!




Para saber mais:
"Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study.". Khaw KT, Wareham N, Bingham S, Welch A, Luben R, et al. PLoS Medicine January 2008, Vol. 5, No. 1, e12.

Os efeitos benéficos de 6.7gramas de chocolate negro por dia!

One of the world's greatest sweets may soon weigh down supermarket shelves following news that dark chocolate may help keep hearts purring with perfection. Researchers in Italy have found that eating half a bar each week can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Chocolate does the body good © Shutterstock

The epidemiological study, one of the biggest in Europe, found that 6.7 grams of chocolate each day have the potential to keep inflammation at bay and prevent heart disease.

The Moli-Sani project researchers paid particular attention to the complex mechanism of inflammation. Most experts agree that chronic inflammation wreaks havoc on the human body, and the heart in particular. Pain, swelling and irritation could trigger a number of disorders including stroke and myocardial infarction.

According to the researchers, prevention programmes have been devised to keep the inflammation process under control and C reactive protein (CRP) is one of the most promising markers. CRP is used by scientists not only as a marker for inflammation, but it can also be used in determining the progress of disease or the effectiveness of treatments. Scientists can detect CRP via a simple blood test, they added.

For this project, the team related the protein levels in the blood of the study participants with their typical chocolate intake. Out of a random sample size of 11 000 people, 4 849 were healthy and disease risk-free. Their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, among others, were normal. Also, up to 1 317 people were not regular chocolate eaters, while 824 consumed only dark chocolate regularly.

'We started from the hypothesis that high amounts of antioxidants contained in the cocoa seeds, in particular flavonoids and other kinds of polyphenols, might have beneficial effects on the inflammatory state,' explained Dr Romina di Giuseppe, lead author of the study. 'Our results have been absolutely encouraging; people having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood,' she said. 'In other words, their inflammatory state is considerably reduced.'

While some people may think the 17% average drop in inflammation is not significant, 'it is enough to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease for one third in women and one fourth in men', she added. 'It is undoubtedly a remarkable outcome.'

This doesn't mean that people should go out and buy hoards of chocolate. 'We are talking of a moderate consumption,' the researcher said. Best effects are brought on when people consume an average amount of 6.7 grams of chocolate each day. 'This corresponds to a small square of chocolate twice or three times a week.' Consumption topping this level would erase the beneficial effects of chocolate, she remarked.

Chocolate bars typically weigh in at 100 grams, so the team believes that half of this each week is good for you.

The researchers focused on dark chocolate because they found that in previous studies milk chocolate interferes in the absorption of polyphenols. 'That is why our study considered just the dark chocolate,' Dr di Giuseppe said.

The researchers pointed out that other factors might also be involved because people who generally adore chocolate, also consume other healthy foods, including fruits and vegetables. 'In order to avoid this, we adjusted for all possible confounding parameters. But the beneficial effect of chocolate still remained and we do believe it is real,' the lead author said.

Project coordinator Professor Licia Iacoviello said, 'This study is the first scientific outcome published from the Moli-Sani project.' The Catholic University professor said this latest finding is just the 'beginning of a large series of data that will give us an innovative view' on how to prevent cardiovascular disease and tumours.


Fonte: http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_08_10_28_en.html

Obesidade e o Desenvolvimento de Determinados Cancros

Como é sabido o desenvolvimento de cancro é um dos grandes perigos da obesidade, apesar de menos falado do que as patologias associadas como a hipertensão, diabetes...

O American Institute for Cancer Research, realizou um estudo no qual relacionou os 100 500  novos casos de cancro  registados no ano passado com a obesidade.

Dos vários tipos de cancro analisados os que mostraram maior relação com a gordura corporal foram:

• Mama - 33000 casos por ano causados pela obesidade
• Endometrio - 20700 casos
• Rins - 13900 casos
• Colo-rectal - 13200 casos
• Pancreas - 11900 casos
• Esofago - 5800 casos
• Vesícula biliar - 2000 casos
  

Para além desta lista, que penso já ser grande, o vice-presidente de investigação epidemiológica da  American Cancer Society  acredita que quanto mais se investigar mais casos de cancro relacionados com obesidade se encontraram,  como cancro do figado, certos tipos de leucémia, mieloma multiplo, etc.

Desta informação nao devemos retirar apenas os números...mas penso que como em tudo na epidemiologia, estudar e tentar mudar para melhorar!