Why Processed Meat Can Cause Cancer - WHO

Even though health providers have been warning against it, many people, especially meat lovers, were taken by surprise yesterday when the World Health Organization (WHO) released the report that processed meat could cause cancer.

While doctors have long warned against eating too much meat, the World Health Organization's cancer agency gave the most definitive response yet about its relation to cancer - and put processed meats in the same danger category as cigarettes or asbestos.

A group of 22 scientists from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France evaluated more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer.

Based on that evaluation, they classified processed meat as "carcinogenic to humans" and red meat as "probably carcinogenic."

Meat industry groups protest the classification. The North American Meat Institute argued in a statement that "cancer is a complex disease not caused by single foods" and stressed the importance of lifestyle and environmental factors.

Doctors have warned that a diet loaded with red meat is linked to cancers, including those of the colon and pancreas. The American Cancer Society has long urged people to reduce consumption of red meat and processed meat.

Dr. David Agus, one of the world's leading cancer specialists and a CBS News medical contributor, told "CBS yesterday" that processed meats can "slightly increase your risks," predominantly for colon cancer.

"To put this in perspective, the lifetime risk of colon cancer is 5 percent," Agus said. "If you have a hot dog every day, your risk goes to 6 percent."

Examples of processed meats include bacon, hot dogs, ham, sausages, corned beef, beef jerky and canned meats - any meat transformed to improve its flavor or preserve it through techniques like salting, curing or smoking.

"We've always known, processed meats - too much is bad," Agus said. "Processed meats aren't good for blood pressure, have a slight increase in colon cancer risk, potentially a slight increase in prostate and pancreatic cancer [risk]. They're very small. But the key is what grandma used to say: moderation."

He said research shows that three and a half servings of regular meat per week appears to have no negative health consequences.

Dana White, a clinical assistant professor of athletic training and sports medicine at Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut, concurred with the message on moderation. "As a registered dietitian I like to look at the big picture of the overall diet," she said. "Red meat can provide important nutrients such as essential amino acids, iron and vitamin B12. When lean cuts are consumed in moderation, it can still fit into a healthy diet."

The WHO report noted that red meat contains important nutrients but said it was associated with some cancers in several studies. Their report said grilling, pan-frying or other high-temperature methods of cooking red meat produce the highest amounts of chemicals suspected to cause cancer.

While the WHO report classifies processed meats as "carcinogenic to humans" - the same category as tobacco smoking and asbestos - it points out this does not mean such foods are as hazardous as cigarettes.

The classifications "describe the strength of the scientific evidence about an agent being a cause of cancer, rather than assessing the level of risk," it explains. "This classification is based on sufficient evidence from epidemiological studies that eating processed meat causes colorectal cancer."

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Plants Based Diets Healthier For The Brain - Study

Following a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish and healthy fats may preserve a more youthful brain in old age, a United States (U.S) study has stated. Previous research has connected Mediterranean diet to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative brain conditions, noted lead study author, Yian Gu of Columbia University in New York.

For the current study which is published in the journal Neurology, researchers focused on elderly people with normal cognitive function to see if the diet might also be tied to losing fewer brain cells due to aging, Gu said. Scientific evidence has shown that ageing can cause the brain to shrink.

Deterioration of the brain sneaks up on most people. As people age, their reflexes slow. They walk and act slower and in some, memory begin to fail especially the short term form of memory ability that is so crucial for learning new things.

Although, ageing brain is a major risk factor for most common neurodegenerative diseases, including mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, Pakinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease, the U.S study shows that consumption of diet of Mediterranean countries, characterized especially by a high consumption of vegetables and olive oil and moderate consumption of protein confers health benefits. Countries with coastline on the Mediterranean Sea have through their diet culture carved a niche for themselves as researchers have found their eating plan to be healthier as well as heartfriendly.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts and replacing butter with healthy fats, such as olive oil. It also includes using herbs instead of salt to flavour foods. Furthermore, Mediterranean diet features fish and poultry – lean sources of protein – over red meat, which contains more saturated fat.

Red wine is similarly consumed regularly but in moderate amounts. Explaining details of the U.S. study, Gu said: “Among cognitively healthy older adults, we were able to detect an association between higher adherence to a Mediterranean type diet and better brain measures.”

To understand the relationship between the diet and brain health, Gu and colleagues reviewed surveys that 674 elderly people completed about their eating habits and then examined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brains. Compared to the people who didn’t regularly follow many aspects of the Mediterranean diet, the participants who adhered to this way of eating more often had larger total brain volume, as well as more gray and white matter.

Higher fish intake and lower meat consumption, one aspect of a Mediterranean diet, was tied to larger total gray matter volume on the brain scans. Also, eating less meat was independently associated with larger total brain volume.

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Banana Peels Are Packed Full With Nutrients

They are traditionally tossed aside, consigned to the rubbish and long forgotten. But, rather than deserve their reputation as a slippery hazard, the butt of cartoon jokes, banana skins are, in fact, good for us.

Whether you're partial to a green, yellow or browning fruit, the peel is packed with nutrients that can prove beneficial to the body. While it may strike you as an alien concept to use banana skin in your daily diet, in many parts of the world, notably India and the Caribbean, the peel is used to add flavour and substance to dishes.

And, there is now a growing consensus, which suggests the nutrients, compounds and minerals hidden away within the skin could help aid weight loss, and boost your mood. 

Banana skins are packed with various nutrients and vitamins that can boost your health, aid weight-loss and improve your mood, nutritionists say.

Nutritionist Ella Allred says while 'at first the peel may seem like an odd choice of food, when you investigate further you will realize there are nutritional benefits'.

She says: "The extra fibre in banana skins will certainly help with bowel regularity. The nutrition profile of magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and B6 is not something to be sniffed at." Laura Flores, a San Diego-based nutritionist agrees.

She told LiveScience: "It contains high amounts of vitamin B6 and B12, as well as magnesium and potassium, and some fibre and protein."

Furthermore, according to an article in the journal of Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, banana peels also contain 'various bioactive compounds like polyphenols, carotenoids and others'.

The skins are packed with vitamin A, which aids in healthy teeth, bones and soft tissue.

While B6 aids the body's immune system, promoting brain and heart health. It also regulates blood sugar levels, and so can help boost your mood.

And B12, also helps the brain and nervous system. Furthermore, B vitamins and the antioxidants lurking in the skin help stoke the metabolism and can therefore prove useful for those trying to lose weight.

And when it comes to being diet friendly, the peel adds no calories to your daily diet, only extra sustenance. 

Adding the peel of your banana to a smoothie is a good way to enjoy its benefits, adding fibre to the drink 

and helping you feel fuller for longer

Vitamin C aids the body in healing, growing new tissue and ligaments, while fibre can help you feel fuller for longer, making the skin diet-friendly.

The peel is also high in the mood-boosting hormone serotonin - a neurotransmitter derived from tryptophan. 

As well as helping to give you a life, tryptophan, an essential amino acid, is often prescribed to help treat sleep problems.

Past research has found fibre helps to lower cholesterol, in turn protecting against heart disease, heart attacks and stroke.

High levels of lutein contained within the peel can help protect your night vision.

The compound has also been found to play a role in preventing cataracts and macular degeneration - one of the leading causes of blindness.  

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Ebola: Virus Exists In Survivor's Semen For 9 Months

An electron micrograph scan shows the Ebola virus emerging from an infected cell.

Researchers have long known that the Ebola virus can linger in certain bodily fluids even after an infected person begins to recover. But a new study shows that remnants of the virus remained in the semen of some male survivors in Sierra Leone for 9 months after the onset of symptoms, raising new questions about how long Ebola might remain transmissible.

"These results come at a critically important time, reminding us that while Ebola case numbers continue to plummet, Ebola survivors and their families continue to struggle with the effects of the disease," Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization's top Ebola official, said in a statement. "[The study] provides further evidence that survivors need continued, substantial support for the next 6 to 12 months to meet these challenges and to ensure their partners are not exposed."

The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, are part of a long-term effort to decipher the mysteries that still surround the deadly disease. While the unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 11,000 people, it also has left behind something previous outbreaks did not -- thousands of survivors that researchers hope can teach us more about the virus.

The study involved analyzing semen samples from 93 Sierra Leonean men who had survived Ebola.

Researchers detected the presence of the virus's genetic material in the semen of all nine men tested in the first three months after their illness began. More than half of the 40 men tested between four and six months after the onset of their symptoms also tested positive, as did a quarter of the 43 men tested between seven to nine months after their illness began.

The findings shed new light on how long the virus can remain in the body. As recently as last October, the WHO noted that while the virus is spread primarily through contact with blood, feces and vomit -- and typically during the height of illness -- it also had been detected in breast milk, urine and semen. "In a convalescent male, the virus can persist in semen for at least 70 days; one study suggests persistence for more than 90 days," the organization wrote then. The study suggests that the virus can hang around even longer than many researchers expected.

But plenty of questions remain. The authors acknowledged that they still lack data about how the presence of Ebola virus RNA in semen relates to the likelihood of actual transmission. Despite some suspected instances of Ebola being spread through sexual activity, it is exceedingly rare, and "the risk of sexual transmission is unknown and is being investigated," the study states.

The explanation for why some men retain fragments of the Ebola virus in their semen for months while others clear the virus also remains unclear. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting more tests on the samples to determine whether the virus is live and potentially infectious. In the meantime, health officials have urged the more than 8,000 male Ebola survivors to abstain from sex or use condoms until no remnants of the virus remain in their semen.

The study, conducted jointly by the CDC, the WHO and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health, comes as the countries hard-hit by the Ebola crisis are pushing to end the outbreak nearly two years after it began. The epidemic is now confined to small areas of Guinea and Sierra Leone, the WHO said. Liberia remains free of Ebola. In general, the epidemic is considered over in a country when no new cases are identified for 42 days, twice the incubation period of the virus.

However,  it is believed that, so long as there is a case of Ebola in any part of the world, there is the risk that it could be imported into any other part of the world.

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Why Marriage Could Lead To Obesity In Both Men And Women

Marriage, the legal contract between spouses has now been shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, a new study has suggested. According to the research, which is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, when one spouse becomes obese, the other’s risk of obesity almost doubles.

“Normal weight people whose spouses went from being normal weight to obese were more likely to become obese,” said Laura Cobb, who led the study as a researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “This suggests that changes in one spouse are likely to also be reflected in the other spouse, likely because of similar changes in diet, physical activity or other behaviors that impact obesity,” Cobb disclosed.

Weight gain is an increase in body weight which could ultimately result to obesity, a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems.

Some health challenges that could arise from obesity include cardiovascular disease (mainly heart disease and stroke), type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis, and some cancers (endometrial, breast and colon).

In African societies, weight gain due to marriage is mostly experienced by women. This has been attributed to a whole lot of factors ranging from sexual to dietary. But, with this new research, both men and women are liable to obesity due to marriage.

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Danger: Children Addicted To Phone Could develop Hunchback

Children as young as seven are developing hunchbacks and curved spines because of the hours spent bending over smart phones and tablets, a chiropractor has claimed.

Dr James Carter warned that he had seen an "alarming increase" in the condition.

He said patients often came in complaining of a headache but that a simple heel-to-toe test revealed that they had developed a backwards curve in the neck having spent hours hunched over electronic devices.

"I have started seeing lots of cases over the past two years, especially in young schoolchildren and teenagers," Dr Carter told Daily Mail Australia.

"The condition is called 'text neck' because it is often caused when people sit with their heads dropped forward looking at their devices for several hours at a time. nstead of a normal forward curve, patients can be seen to have a backwards curve. It can be degenerative, often causing head, neck, shoulder and back pain. Many patients come in complaining they have a headache, but we actually find text neck is the cause of it. They often fail a simple heel-to-toe test and tend to fall over," he added.
 
Sammy Margo, from the UK's Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, agreed that "text neck" was on the rise.
She said: "When you drop your chin on to your chest for a long period you are stretching the whole structure. Eventually, in conjunction with a sedentary lifestyle, it could lead to serious consequences."
Dr Carter, from Niagara Park on Australia's New South Wales Central Coast, warned that the condition could lead to anxiety and depression as well as spinal damage.

And he said 50 per cent of the patients he diagnosed were school-aged children and teenagers.

A recent survey by the consultancy ComRes for Channel 4 News found just over half of parents worried their kids were exposed to sexual content on their electronic devices, while 52 per cent said they were worried about them meeting strangers online.

It also found that children spend an average of nearly three hours a day in front of their screens – whether playing games, watching videos on YouTube or using social media.

Dr Carter advised avoiding using laptops or phones while sitting or lying in bed and raising monitors or devices to eye level.

Dr Chris McCarthy, a consultant spinal physiotherapist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, cautioned against the use of X-rays to diagnose such a condition.

He expressed concern that patients suspecting they had the condition would go to their GP and expect to have an X-ray, which he said were not recommended in the treatment of neck pain and would expose them to unnecessary radiation.

Whilst he said he had heard of "text neck", he suggested that the broader problem was more likely to stem from a sedentary lifestyle and a general lack of exercise.

"Non-specific neck pain can be related to sedentary postures," he said.

"As physios, we would support a notion that if a child does not do any exercise and stays in a static position playing computer games and on Facebook there is more chance they will get spinal pain, including in the neck."

 

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