Secondhand Smoke Exposure Affects Girls More Than Boys

Smoking -  is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco and/or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs. It can also be done as a part of rituals, to induce trances and spiritual enlightenment.

The most common method of smoking today is through cigarettes, primarily industrially manufactured but also hand-rolled from loose tobacco and rolling paper. Other smoking implements include pipes, cigars, bidis, hookahs, vaporizers and bongs. It has been suggested that smoking-related disease kills one half of all long term smokers but these diseases may also be contracted by non-smokers.

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 28 Mar 2012

The negative health effects of early-life exposure to secondhand smoke appear to impact girls more than boys - particularly those with early-life allergic sensitization, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine

Epidemiologists with UC's Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS), funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), found that children exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke who also had allergic sensitizations during early childhood (age 2) are at greater risk for decreased lung function at age 7 compared to children who had not developed allergic sensitizations by this age

Additionally, lung function among girls was six times worse than in boys who were exposed to similar levels of both secondhand smoke and allergen sensitization.

"Our study shows that the timing of allergic sensitization is crucial because children who are sensitized by age 2 are more likely to suffer the greatest lung deficits during childhood as a result of secondhand smoke exposure," explains Kelly Brunst, first author of the paper and doctoral candidate in UC's division of epidemiology and biostatistics. "This association was not observed at age 4 or 7, emphasizing the importance of this critical window for lung development."
The UC-based team's findings are published online ahead of print in the scientific journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

This is the first study to explore the differential gender effects of secondhand smoke exposure using an internal biomarker for secondhand smoke - hair cotinine (product of nicotine metabolism) - while also accounting for the importance of timing and extent of allergic sensitization on lung function.

Previous studies have estimated that one in four children in the United States living in a home with at least one smoker have cotinine concentrations more than twice as high as those living with nonsmoking adults. Secondhand smoke exposure during childhood has also been associated with respiratory illness, decreased lung function and asthma development/exacerbation.

"Our results provide valuable information regarding the interwoven relationships between early-life exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, allergic sensitization, gender and lung function," says Grace LeMasters, PhD, UC professor of environmental health and principal investigator of the CCAAPS.

"It's likely that the complex interaction between secondhand smoke and pulmonary function loss in boys and girls is ultimately dependent on the timing of exposure as well as the child's 'total load' in relationship to cumulative risk factors - exposures, allergic sensitization, asthma status, genetic susceptibility and sex hormones."

CCAAPS is a long term childhood study examining the effects of environmental exposures on respiratory health and allergy development. All infants in the study had at least one parent with known allergies and were followed from infancy until age 7.

For this study, researchers examined a population of 476 children in the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area identified from birth to be at increased risk for allergies based on family history and proximity to major roads. Hair samples were collected at age 2 and 4 to measure average cotinine concentrations. At age 7, all children had lung function and asthma diagnosis testing. This information was then correlated with data about allergy sensitization collected through annual skin prick allergy testing, self-report questionnaires about allergy symptoms and the home/school environment.

Why Is Smoking Bad For You?

Smoking is responsible for several diseases, such as cancer, long-term (chronic) respiratory diseases, and heart disease, as well as premature death. Over 440,000 people in the USA and 100,000 in the UK die because of smoking each year. According the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), $92 billion are lost each year from lost productivity resulting from smoking-related deaths.

Smoking causes cancer

90% of lung cancer patients developed their disease because of smoking. Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths in the world. Smokers also have a significantly higher risk of developing:

Bladder cancer

Kidney cancer

Cancers of the pharynx and larynx (throat cancer)

Mouth cancer

Esophagus cancer

Cancer of the pancreas

Stomach cancer

Some types of leukemia

Cancer of the nose and sinuses

Cervical cancer

Bowel cancer

Ovarian cancer

In some cases, also breast cancer

According to Cancer Research UK, one person dis every 15 minutes in Great Britain from lung cancer.

Smoking also raises the risk of cancer recurrences (the cancer coming back).

Why does smoking raise cancer risk?

Scientists say there are over 4,000 compounds in cigarette smoke. A sizeable number of them are toxic - they are bad for us and damage our cells. Some of them cause cancer - they are carcinogenic.

Tobacco smoke consists mainly of:

*Nicotine - this is not carcinogenic. However, it is highly addictive. Smokers find it very hard to quit because they are hooked on the nicotine. Nicotine is an extremely fast-acting drug. It reaches the brain within 15 seconds of being inhaled. If cigarettes and other tobacco products had no nicotine, the number of people who smoke every day would drop drastically. Without nicotine, the tobacco industry would collapse.

Nicotine is used as a highly controlled insecticide. Exposure to sufficient amounts can lead to vomiting, seizures, depression of the CNS (central nervous system), and growth retardation. It can also undermine a fetus' proper development.

*Carbon Monoxide - this is a poisonous gas. It has no smell or taste. The body finds it hard to differentiate carbon monoxide from oxygen and absorbs it into the bloodstream. Faulty boilers emit dangerous carbon monoxide, as do car exhausts.

If there is enough carbon monoxide around you and you inhale it, you can go into a coma and die. Carbon monoxide decreases muscle and heart function, it causes fatigue, weakness, and dizziness. It is especially toxic for babies still in the womb, infants and indifividuals with heart or lung disease.

*Tar - consists of several cancer-causing chemicals. When a smoker inhales cigarette smoke, 70% of the tar remains in the lungs. Try the handkerchief test. Fill the mouth with smoke, don't inhale, and blow the smoke through the handkerchief. There will be a sticky, brown stain on the cloth. Do this again, but this time inhale and the blow the smoke through the cloth, there will only be a very faint light brown stain.

Smoking and heart/cardiovascular disease

Smoking causes an accumulation of fatty substances in the arteries, known as atherosclerosis, the main contributor to smoking-related deaths. Smoking is also a significant contributory factor in coronary heart disease risk. People with coronary heart disease are much more likely to have a heart attack.

Tobacco smoke raises the risk of coronary heart disease by itself. When combined with other risk factors, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, physical inactivity, or diabetes, the risk of serious, chronic illness and death is huge.

Smoking also worsens heart disease risk factors. It raises blood pressure, makes it harder to do exercise, makes the blood clot more easily than it should. People who have undergone bypass surgery and smoke have a higher risk of recurrent coronary heart disease.

According to the American Heart Association:

"Cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor for young men and women. It produces a greater relative risk in persons under age 50 than in those over 50."

A female smoker who is also on the contraceptive pill has a considerably higher risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke compared to women using oral contraceptives who don't smoke.

If you smoke your levels of HDL, also known as good cholesterol will drop.

If you have a history of heart disease and smoke, your risk of having such a disease yourself is extremely high.

A much higher percentage of regular smokers have strokes compared to other non-smokers of the same age. The cerebrovascular system is damaged when we inhale smoke regularly.

Those who smoke run a higher risk of developing aortic aneurysm and arterial disease.



 

Both Too Little and Too Much Sleep Bad for the Heart: Study

Research finds too little sleep may increase risk of stroke, heart attack; too much may cause coronary artery disease....

Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles.  It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than being in hibernation or a coma. Sleep is a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

SUNDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to what's best for their hearts, people walk a fine line between getting too much and too little sleep, a new study suggests.

Adults who get fewer than six hours or more than eight hours of sleep a night are at greater risk for a variety of heart conditions, according to research led by Dr. Rohit Arora, chairman of cardiology at the Chicago Medical School.

Sleeping too little puts people at significantly higher risk of stroke, heart attack and congestive heart failure, the researchers found. On the other hand, people who sleep too much have a higher prevalence of chest pain (angina) and coronary artery disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen.

The findings are scheduled for presentation Sunday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 3,000 patients over age 45 who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, making theirs the first nationally representative sample to show the association between sleep duration and heart health.

The study showed that people who got too little sleep were twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack and 1.6 times more likely to have congestive heart failure. People who slept more than eight hours a night were twice as likely to have angina and 1.1 times more likely to have coronary artery disease.

The findings remained significant even after the researchers accounted for heart risk factors such as age, blood cholesterol levels, smoking and obesity, as well as for sleep apnea and other sleep problems.

Previous studies have shown that insufficient sleep is linked to a hyperactive nervous system, glucose intolerance, diabetes, inflammation and a rise in stress hormones, blood pressure and resting heart rate, the researchers noted.

The reasons too much sleep can lead to heart problems are unclear, however, and further research will be needed.

For now, Arora said, health-care providers need to talk about sleep with their patients.

"Clinicians need to start asking patients about sleep, especially those who are already at greater risk of heart disease," he said. "It's really a simple thing to assess as part of a physical exam; it doesn't cost anything and it may help patients to adopt better sleep habits."

Although the new study uncovered an association between sleep issues and heart trouble, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

How to lose weight the healthy way

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue. It can occur unintentionally due to an underlying disease or can arise from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state.

How to lose weight the healthy way

More and more people are finally starting to understand the need to embrace a healthy lifestyle. In this day and age, processed, pre-packaged food is the way to go, and although they might be convenient, they contain a chock full of chemicals and preservatives that are bad for you in more ways than one.

Whether you want to start toning your body, lose weight or just become healthier in general, here are a few examples of how to jumpstart your new life through healthy diets, lifestyle changes and fun ways to exercise.

If you want to lose weight, but you love to eat

Losing weight isn’t as easy as it seems and the older you get, the harder it is to shed off those extra pounds you accumulated through the years. The first order of the day is to start eating right, as exercise only works if paired with a good diet. If you have the budget for it, and no time to cook, try a food delivery service that specializes in diet food.

These days, there are so many to choose from! One example is The Sexy Chef, which offers meal delivery for several types of diets such as The South Beach Diet, Sugar Buster Diet and even for the HCG Diet. For those who prefer to eat the same food as the rest of the family, and would like to make becoming healthy a joint affair, you can subscribe to The Bon Appetit Diet via www.belletoday.com.ph.

This diet’s main concern is the pleasure of eating and does not remove any food groups from your diet. You will still be eating your favorite comfort food and yes, even rice. It won’t interfere with your regular schedule, as you will be making all meals yourself as you usually do. BelleToday is an online community of people who, just like you, would like to start making better food choices for themselves and their families.

If you want to start working out but get easily bored

Although the biggest work out trend right now is running, not everyone can stay in the zone and love to do it all the time. For these same people, gyms are usually out of the question as they find it just as boring. Instead of forcing yourself to follow what everyone else is doing, find alternatives that will make you more excited to work out.

One can be through Pole Dancing, a work out that is becoming increasingly popular for those who would like to lose weight and become long and lean. Don’t think these are just women hanging from a pole as a lot of upper body strength is required when doing their lifts. Take a class with the Pole Cats in their Ortigas studio and see if it’s your thing.

Another option for a more interesting work out that is fast and efficient (you won’t need to spend hours there) is Plana Forma, a combination of yoga, Pilates and dance that defines your abs, works out your thighs and arms to give you a long and lean physique. For those who love to dance, Zumba might be the thing for you. This Latin-inspired fitness dance “party” will help you work up a sweat while having fun.

If you regularly work out but want to push yourself more
For those who regularly run or go to the gym, but feel like their regular work outs are no longer doing the job, you may want to try more high intensity work outs such as CrossFit, a work out that was original used to train policemen, army men and athletes. This kind of exercise mixes everything from running, gymnastics to kettlebells and Parkour to work your body to its full potential. If you want to work out more at home to not skip any while on vacation or when you get to busy to go to the gym, invest in TRX equipment. This suspension training uses your own body weight to enable hundreds of exercises that will work out every part of your body.

Surprising Facts About Allergies

What is an allergy???

An allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system.^[1] Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid. Allergy is one of four forms of hypersensitivity and is formally called type I (or immediate) hypersensitivity. Allergic reactions are distinctive because of excessive activation of certain white blood cells called mast cells and basophils by a type of antibody called Immunoglobulin E (IgE). This reaction results in an inflammatory response which can range from uncomfortable to dangerous.

Mild allergies like hay fever are very common in the human population and cause symptoms such as red eyes, itchiness, and runny nose, eczema, hives, hay fever, or an asthma attack. Allergies can play a major role in conditions such as asthma. In some people, severe allergies to environmental or dietary allergens or to medication may result in life-threatening reactions called anaphylaxis. Food allergies, and reactions to the venom of stinging insects such as wasps and bees are often associated with these severe reactions.

A variety of tests exist to diagnose allergic conditions. These include placing possible allergens on the skin and looking for a reaction such as swelling. Blood tests can also be done to look for an allergen-specific IgE.

Treatments for allergies include avoiding known allergens, use of medications such as anti-histamines that specifically prevent allergic reactions, steroids that modify the immune system in general, and medications such as decongestants that reduce the symptoms. Many of these medications are taken by mouth, though epinephrine, which is used to treat anaphylactic reactions, is injected. Immunotherapy uses injected allergens to desensitize the body's response.

Signs and symptoms

Many allergens such as dust or pollen are airborne particles. In these cases, symptoms arise in areas in contact with air, such as eyes, nose, and lungs. For instance, allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, causes irritation of the nose, sneezing, itching, and redness of the eyes.^[

Inhaled allergens can also lead to asthmatic symptoms, caused by narrowing of the airways (bronchoconstriction) and increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath (dyspnea), coughing and wheezing.

Aside from these ambient allergens, allergic reactions can result from foods, insect stings, and reactions to medications like aspirin and antibiotics such as penicillin. Symptoms of food allergy include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy skin, and swelling of the skin during hives. Food allergies rarely cause respiratory (asthmatic) reactions, or rhinitis.

Insect stings, antibiotics, and certain medicines produce a systemic allergic response that is also called anaphylaxis; multiple organ systems can be affected, including the digestive system, the respiratory system, and the circulatory system.

Depending on the rate of severity, it can cause cutaneous reactions, bronchoconstriction, edema, hypotension, coma, and even death. This type of reaction can be triggered suddenly, or the onset can be delayed. The severity of this type of allergic response often requires injections of epinephrine, sometimes through a device known as the EpiPen or Twinject auto-injector. The nature of anaphylaxis is such that the reaction can seem to be subsiding, but may recur throughout a prolonged period of time.

Substances that come into contact with the skin, such as latex, are also common causes of allergic reactions, known as contact dermatitis or eczema.^[9] Skin allergies frequently cause rashes, or swelling and inflammation within the skin, in what is known as a "wheal and flare" reaction characteristic of hives and angioedema.

Cause

Risk factors for allergy can be placed in two general categories, namely host and environmental factors. Host factors include heredity, gender, race, and age, with heredity being by far the most significant. However, there have been recent increases in the incidence of allergic disorders that cannot be explained by genetic factors alone. Four major environmental candidates are alterations in exposure to infectious diseases during early childhood, environmental pollution, allergen levels, and dietary changes.

Diagnosis

Before a diagnosis of allergic disease can be confirmed, the other possible causes of the presenting symptoms should be carefully considered. Vasomotor rhinitis, for example, is one of many maladies that shares symptoms with allergic rhinitis, underscoring the need for professional differential diagnosis. Once a diagnosis of asthma, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, or other allergic disease has been made, there are several methods for discovering the causative agent of that allergy.

Effective management of allergic diseases relies on the ability to make an accurate diagnosis. Allergy testing can help confirm/rule out allergies and consequently reduce adverse reactions and limit unnecessary avoidance and medications.  Correct diagnosis, counseling and avoidance advice based on valid allergy test results will help reduce the incidence of symptoms, medications and improve quality of life. For assessing the presence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, you can use two different methods—a skin prick test or an allergy blood test. Both methods are recommended by the NIH guidelines and have similar diagnostic value in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

A healthcare provider can use the test results to identify the specific allergic triggers that may be contributing to the symptoms. Using this information, along with a physical examination and case history, the doctor can diagnose the cause of the symptoms and tailor treatments that will help the patient feel better. A negative result can help the doctor rule out allergies in order to consider other possible.

Treatment

In recent times, there have been enormous improvements in the medical practices used to treat allergic conditions. With respect to anaphylaxis and hypersensitivity reactions to foods, drugs, and insects and in allergic skin diseases, advances have included the identification of food proteins to which IgE binding is associated with severe reactions and development of low-allergen foods, improvements in skin prick test predictions; evaluation of the atopy patch test; in wasp sting outcomes predictions and a rapidly disintegrating epinephrine tablet, and anti-IL-5 for eosinophilic diseases.

Traditional treatment and management of allergies consisted simply of avoiding the allergen in question or otherwise reducing exposure. For instance, people with cat allergies were encouraged to avoid them. However, while avoidance of allergens may reduce symptoms and avoid life-threatening anaphylaxis, it is difficult to achieve for those with pollen or similar air-borne allergies. Nonetheless, strict avoidance of allergens is still considered a useful treatment method, and is often used in managing food allergies.

New technology approaches to decreasing IgE overproduction, and regulating histimine release in allergic individuals have demonstrated statisitically significant reduction on Total Nasel Symptom Scores.

Do cell phones pose a health hazard?

Health Issues

 

FACTS:

 

*A mobile phone (also known as a cellular phone, cell phone and a hand phone) is a device that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone network. By contrast, a cordless telephone is used only within the short range of a single, private base station.

*Radio frequency (RF) is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals. RF usually refers to electrical rather than mechanical oscillations, although mechanical RF systems do exist

 

Do cell phones pose a health hazard?

Many people are concerned that cell phone radiation will cause cancer or other serious health hazards. The weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with any health problems.

Cell phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF). Over the past 15 years, scientists have conducted hundreds of studies looking at the biological effects of the radiofrequency energy emitted by cell phones. While some researchers have reported biological changes associated with RF energy, these studies have failed to be replicated. The majority of studies published have failed to show an association between exposure to radiofrequency from a cell phone and health problems.

The low levels of RF cell phones emit while in use are in the microwave frequency range. They also emit RF at substantially reduced time intervals when in the stand-by mode. Whereas high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low level RF that does not produce heating effects causes no known adverse health effects.

The biological effects of radiofrequency energy should not be confused with the effects from other types of electromagnetic energy.

Very high levels of electromagnetic energy, such as is found in X-rays and gamma rays can ionize biological tissues. Ionization is a process where electrons are stripped away from their normal locations in atoms and molecules. It can permanently damage biological tissues including DNA, the genetic material.

The energy levels associated with radiofrequency energy, including both radio waves and microwaves, are not great enough to cause the ionization of atoms and molecules. Therefore, RF energy is a type of non-ionizing radiation. Other types of non-ionizing radiation include visible light, infrared radiation (heat) and other forms of electromagnetic radiation with relatively low frequencies.

While RF energy doesn’t ionize particles, large amounts can increase body temperatures and cause tissue damage. Two areas of the body, the eyes and the testes, are particularly vulnerable to RF heating because there is relatively little blood flow in them to carry away excess heat.

Risk of dying young due to eating red meat: studies

What is Reat Meat??? - Red meat in traditional culinary terminology is meat which is red when raw and not white when cooked. In the nutritional sciences, red meat includes some mammal meat. Red meat includes the meat of most adult mammals and some fowl (e.g. ducks).

Health risks:

Eating a portion of processed red meat daily can boost a person's risk of dying young by up to 20 percent, said a long-running US study of more than 120,000 people released on Monday.

While the research by Harvard University experts offers more evidence that eating red meat increases the risk of heart disease and cancer, it also counsels that substituting fish and poultry may lower early death risk.

"This study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death," said Frank Hu, senior author of the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers gleaned their data from a study of 37,698 men who were followed for 22 years and 83,644 women who were tracked for 28 years.

Subjects answered surveys about their eating habits every four years.

Those who ate a card-deck-sized serving of unprocessed red meat each day on average saw a 13 percent higher risk of dying than those who did not eat red meat as frequently.

And if the red meat was processed, like in a hot dog or two slices of bacon, that risk jumped to 20 percent.

However, substituting nuts for red meat lowered total mortality risk by 19 percent, while poultry or whole grains lowered the risk 14 percent and fish did so by seven percent.

The authors said between seven and nine percent of all deaths in the study "could be prevented if all the participants consumed fewer than 0.5 servings per day of total red meat."

Processed red meat has been shown to contain ingredients such as saturated fat, sodium, nitrites and some carcinogens that are linked to many chronic ailments including heart disease and cancer.

"More than 75 percent of the $2.6 trillion in annual US health care costs are from chronic disease," said an accompanying commentary by Dean Ornish, a physician and dietary expert at the University of California, San Francisco.

"Eating less red meat is likely to reduce morbidity from these illnesses, thereby reducing health care costs."

A separate study, also led by Hu but published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal, found that men who drank sugar-sweetened beverages daily faced a 20 percent higher risk of heart disease than men who did not.

The study tracked more than 42,000 men, most of them Caucasian, over 22 years and found higher heart risks, as higher levels of inflammation and harmful lipids known as triglycerides in daily sweet-drinkers.

The effects were not seen in men who drank as many as two sugar-sweetened beverages per week.

According to Hu, the research "provides strong justification for reducing sugary beverage consumption among patients, and more importantly, in the general population."

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the United States and top risk factors include obesity, smoking, lack of exercise, diabetes and poor eating habits.

Colorectal Cancer


Due to the many studies that have found a link between red meat intake and colorectal cancer, the American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund stated that there is "convincing" evidence that red meat intake increases the risk for colorectal cancer.

Professor Sheila Bingham of the Dunn Human Nutrition Unit attributes this to the haemoglobin and myoglobin molecules which are found in red meat. She suggests these molecules, when ingested trigger a process called nitrosation in the gut which leads to the formation of carcinogens.

Others have suggested that it is due to the presence of carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines, which are created in the cooking process. However, this may not be limited to red meat, since a study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who ate skinless chicken five times or more per week had a 52% higher risk of developing bladder cancer although not people who ate chicken with skin.

A 2011 study of 17,000 individuals found that people consuming the most grilled and well-done meat had a 56 and 59% higher rate of cancer.

 

Other Cancers

There is "suggestive" evidence that red meat intake increases the risk of oesophageal, lung, pancreatic and endometrial cancer. As a result, they recommend limiting intake of red meat to less than 300g (11 oz) cooked weight per week, "very little, if any of which to be processed."

Some studies have linked consumption of large amounts of red meat with breast cancer, stomach cancer, lymphoma, bladder cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer (although other studies have found no relationship between red meat and prostate cancer).

A 2011 study of almost 500,000 participants found that those in the highest quintile of red meat consumption had a 19% increased risk of kidney cancer.

 

Cardiovascular diseases

Some studies have associated red meat consumption with cardiovascular diseases, possibly because of its high content of saturated fat. Specifically, increased beef intake is associated with ischemic heart disease.

Some mechanisms that have been suggested for why red meat consumption is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease include: its impact on serum cholesterol, that red meat contains arachidonic acid, heme iron, and homocysteine. A later study has indicated that it is not associated with cardiovascular diseases.

A 1999 study funded by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, an advocacy group for beef producers, involved 191 persons with high cholesterol on diets where at least 80% of the meat intake came from either lean red meat in one group, or lean white meat in another. The results of this study showed nearly identical cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in both groups. This study suggests that lean red meat may play a role in a low-fat diet for persons with high cholesterol.

Red meat consumption is also associated with acute coronary syndrome, as well as stroke. It has also been associated with greater intima-media thickness, an indicator of atherosclerosis.

A 2008 article published in Nature found that red meat consumption was "strongly associated" with increased odds of acute coronary syndrome, with those eating more than 8 servings of red meat per month being 4.9 times more likely to have cardiac events than those eating less than four servings per month.

A 21 year follow up of about thirty thousand Seventh Day Adventists (adventists are known for presenting a "health message" that recommends vegetarianism) found that people who ate red meat daily were 60% more likely to die of heart disease than those who ate red meat less than once per week.

The Seven Countries Study found a significant correlation between red meat consumption and risk of CHD. A significant relationship between red meat and CHD has been found specifically for women,^[50] most strongly with regards to processed red meat.

A 2009 study by the National Cancer Institute revealed a correlation between the consumption of red meat and increased mortality from cardiovascular diseases, as well as increased mortality from all causes. This study has been criticized for using an improperly validated food frequency questionnaire, which has been shown to have low levels of accuracy.

 

Diabetes

Red meat intake has been associated with an increased risk of type II diabetes. Interventions in which red meat is removed from the diet can lower albuminuria levels. Replacing red meat with a low protein or chicken diet can improve glomerular filtration rate.

Other findings have suggested that the association may be to saturated fat, trans fat and dietary cholesterol, rather than red meat per se. An additional confound is that diets high in processed meat could increase the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.

One study estimated that “substitutions of one serving of nuts, low-fat dairy, and whole grains per day for one serving of red meat per day were associated with a 16–35% lower risk of type two diabetes”.

 

Obesity

The Diogenes project used data from ninety thousand men and women over about seven years and found that "higher intake of total protein, and protein from animal sources was associated with subsequent weight gain for both genders, strongest among women, and the association was mainly attributable to protein from red and processed meat and poultry rather than from fish and dairy sources.

There was no overall association between intake of plant protein and subsequent changes in weight."They also found an association between red meat consumption and increased waist circumference.

A 1998 survey of about five thousand vegetarian and non-vegetarian people found that vegetarians had about 30% lower BMIs. A 2006 survey of fifty thousand women found that those with higher "western diet pattern" scores gained about two more kilograms over the course of four years than those who lowered their scores.

A ten-year follow up of 80,000 men and women found that "ten-year changes in body mass index was associated positively with meat consumption" as well as with weight gain at the waist. In a

Mediterranean population of 8,000 men and women, meat consumption was significantly associated with weight gain. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed "consistent positive associations between meat consumption and BMI, waist circumference, obesity and central obesity."

A survey of twins found that processed meat intake was associated with weight gain. Western diets, which include higher consumption of red meats, are often associated with obesity.

 

Other health issues

Regular consumption of red meat has also been linked to hypertension, and arthritis.

Popular Vitamins That Is not Good if taken too much

Vitamin E: Vitamin related to healthy skin and sex appeal.

If you tuned into The Daily Show recently, you would have heard Jon Stewart’s guest, David Agus, a physician and author of the new best-selling book The End of Illness, fret about what could be called America’s vitamin abuse problem.

There have been 50 large-scale studies on supplements, he said, and not one has shown a benefit in heart disease or cancer. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Why are we taking these?”
Agus is not alone in his frustration. Other experts liken buying vitamins to flushing money down the toilet. In some cases, they mean it literally: If the body gets more of certain vitamins than it needs, it often excretes the excess in urine.

That doesn’t stop Americans from spending about $28 billion a year on dietary supplements, including vitamins and herbal supplements.

In some cases, people may be spending money only to put their health at risk. “As Americans, we think more is better, but that’s not the case with vitamins,” says Dee Sandquist, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Here are three popular vitamin supplements that prove you can, in fact, get too much of a good thing.

Supplement skeptics often point to the story of vitamin E, which was once considered a promising tool for cancer prevention. The National Cancer Institute was so hopeful that vitamin E supplements would decrease rates of prostate cancer that in 2001 it funded a study designed to test the theory. Instead, the findings revealed that the men who took vitamin E were 17 percent morelikely—not less—to develop the disease.

While vitamin E is a key player in immune function and cell communication, it’s best obtained through diet—in foods like wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and broccoli—and worst when taken regularly in high doses. Like many vitamins, it appears to lose its main benefits when taken in excess.

Vitamin A - Vitamin Related with Good Eye Sight

 

Vitamin A is what gives carrots their good-for-your-vision reputation. Found in both animal and plant-based products, it’s also important for reproduction, bone health, and immune function. Supplements can be important for people with certain conditions that hinder fat absorption, including celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, and pancreatic disorders.

But vitamin A deficiency is uncommon among healthy Americans. And partly because the nutrient can build up to toxic levels in the body, taking more than you need over time can lead to serious liver problems, birth defects, and disorders of the central nervous system.

A form of vitamin A called beta-carotene is thought to help prevent cancer—but perhaps only when obtained through the diet. In pill form, it seems to do just the opposite. Much as the pivotal vitamin E study backfired, so did the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study, which found that male smokers who took beta-carotene supplements were 18 percent more likely to develop lung cancer, and 8 percent more likely to die, than the ones who did not.

Gerard Mullin, director of integrative gastrointestinal nutrition services at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and author of The Inside Tract: Your Good Gut Guide to Great Digestive Health, has cared for patients who developed liver fibrosis because they overdosed on vitamin A. “A lot of people don’t know it can be dangerous,” he says. “They think it fights infections."

Vitamin C - Vitamin Related to immune booster against colds and coughs.

Infection-fighting prowess is often attributed to vitamin C, as well. From orange-flavored chewables to Emergen-C packets, mega-doses of vitamin C are staples in many American medicine cabinets. While the natural form of the vitamin supports immune function, there is only a weak scientific link between regular use of vitamin C supplements and shorter or less severe colds. There’s no good evidence that vitamin C pills can prevent a cold altogether.

Unlike vitamin A, vitamin C is water soluble, which means that if you take more than your body can use, the excess is usually excreted without causing harm. However, Sandquist says, adverse reactions like diarrhea, stomach cramps, and nausea can occur.

Adds Mullin, “In high-enough doses, vitamin C can cause kidney stones.” Any amount larger than 500 milligrams per day can be enough to cause a problem, he says. That’s only half a 1-gram packet of Emergen-C. “It rarely happens, but there have been case reports.”

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Reasonable Doses

Sandquist recommends that healthy people abide by the Institute of Medicine’s “Tolerable Upper Intake Levels,” which indicates the maximum daily intake of a vitamin you should consume through a combination of diet and supplements. Taking more than the recommended amount means the risks likely outweigh the benefits. (The recommended amount is often less than the limit.)

“When the IOM makes their recommendations, they look at all the available research,” she says, so its conclusions are more reliable than any single study, even one that gets a lot of publicity.
Because taking supplements is second nature for many consumers, vitamins are often overlooked as a potential culprit for symptoms like headaches or diarrhea, Sandquist says. It’s important to be conscious of what you’re consuming—in natural, supplement, and fortified forms—and to tell your doctor about every last one.

“The best strategy is to follow the ‘choose my plate’ method,”she says, referring to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s healthy food guide. If people do that, she says, “then they probably wouldn’t have to worry about a vitamin supplement unless they have a specific medical condition.”