By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg sought federal permission on Wednesday to bar New York City’s 1.7 million recipients of food stamps from using them to buy soda or other sugared drinks.

The request, made to the United States Department of Agriculture, which finances and sets the rules for the food-stamp program, is part of an aggressive anti-obesity push by the mayor that has also included advertisements, stricter rules on food sold in schools and an unsuccessful attempt to have the state impose a tax on the sugared drinks.

Public health experts greeted Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal cautiously. George Hacker, senior policy adviser for the health promotion project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said a more equitable approach might be to use educational campaigns to dissuade food-stamp users from buying sugared drinks.

“The world would be better, I think, if people limited their purchases of sugared beverages,” Mr. Hacker said. “However, there are a great many ethical reasons to consider why one would not want to stigmatize people on food stamps.”

The mayor requested a ban for two years to study whether it would have a positive impact on health and whether a permanent ban would be merited.

“In spite of the great gains we’ve made over the past eight years in making our communities healthier, there are still two areas where we’re losing ground — obesity and diabetes,” the mayor said in a statement. “This initiative will give New York families more money to spend on foods and drinks that provide real nourishment.”

New York State, which administers food stamps locally, signed on to the request, which was received by the Agriculture Department on Wednesday evening.

“We appreciate the state’s interest,” a spokesman, Justin DeJong, said. “We will review and carefully consider the state’s proposal.”

In 2004, the Agriculture Department denied a request by Minnesota to prevent food-stamp recipients from buying junk food. The department said that the plan, which focused on candy and soda, among other foods, was based on questionable merits and would “perpetuate the myth” that food-stamp users made poor shopping decisions.

Congress debated but rejected restricting the purchase of sugared drinks with food stamps as part of a 2008 farm bill, Mr. Hacker said. But this year, the chairman of the House’s Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, Democrat of Minnesota, said the House should think about such a ban in its deliberations over the next farm bill.

Mr. Bloomberg and his health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, said the ban would help curb the city’s obesity epidemic, which they contend has been fueled by rising soda consumption over the past 30 years.

City statistics released last month showed that nearly 40 percent of public-school children in kindergarten through eighth grade were overweight or obese, and that obesity rates were substantially higher in poor neighborhoods. City studies show that consumption of sugared beverages is consistently higher in those neighborhoods.

Dr. Farley and the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, said in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Thursday that the ban would not reduce the ability of food-stamp recipients to feed their families. “They would still receive every penny of support they now get, meaning they would have as much, if not more, to spend on nutritious food,” Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines wrote. “And they could still purchase soda if they choose — just not with taxpayer dollars.”

The health of New Yorkers, and particularly obesity, is one of the mayor’s signature issues. During his first term in office, Mr. Bloomberg expanded the city’s smoking ban to almost all indoor public places, and he is proposing to expand it to beaches, parks and plazas. New York City has banned trans fats in restaurants and requires restaurants to post calorie counts.

The city’s campaign against sugary drinks has been especially aggressive. This week, it introduced ads showing a man drinking packets of sugar. But its attempt to persuade the State Legislature to impose a tax on the drinks was met with skepticism and opposition from the beverage industry and grocery owners.

Tracey Halliday, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, said of the mayor’s request: “This is just another attempt by government to tell New Yorkers what they should eat and drink.”

The number of New Yorkers qualifying for food stamps has grown more than 35 percent in the past couple of years, mirroring a nationwide trend. And the mayor’s proposal could raise concerns about equity, since it is aimed at one segment of the city, its poorest. When Minnesota sought its ban, welfare rights advocates there accused the state of being patronizing to food-stamp users.

Anticipating such criticism, Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines said that the food-stamp program already prohibited the use of benefits to buy cigarettes, beer, wine, liquor or prepared foods.

The ban would affect beverages with more than 10 calories per 8 ounces, and would exclude fruit juices without added sugar, milk products and milk substitutes. A 12-ounce soda has 150 calories and the equivalent of 10 packets of sugar, according to the health department. City health officials say that drinking 12 ounces of soda a day can make a person gain 15 pounds a year.

Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines said that over the past 30 years, the consumption of soda and other sugary beverages in the United States had more than doubled, paralleling the rise in obesity. They blame that trend for the rising rate of diabetes, which now afflicts one in eight adults in New York City, and is nearly twice as common among poor New Yorkers as among wealthier ones.

Told of Mr. Bloomberg’s request on Wednesday, one food-stamp user, Marangeley Reyes, 24, of Harlem, said the mayor should not dictate what foods she bought. Ms. Reyes had just emerged from a Shop Fair supermarket on Lenox Avenue with a 20-ounce bottle of Orange Crush — she drinks at least one a day. But after giving it some more thought, she said, “I probably shouldn’t be drinking so much soda.”

Joel Stonington and Jack Styczynski contributed reporting.

According to the American Heart Association, one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, the rate is higher in African Americans. People who suffer from high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease, kidney disease and renal failure. Sufferers are also at a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Known as the “silent killer,” high blood pressure, has no symptoms but is easy to diagnose by your doctor. While there are no symptoms, there are causes. See the list below to see if you fall in the high risk category and make sure to get your blood pressure checked regularly and consult a doctor if it is high. High blood pressure registers at 130/80 or higher.

Causes of high blood pressure:

Genetics – Family history plays a major roll in the likely hood of developing high blood pressure. Just as hair color, height and eye color runs in families so does high blood pressure. While you can’t control your heredity you can take steps to lead a healthy lifestyle that will cut down on your chances of developing hypertension.

Poor Diet – Salty and fatty foods, specifically those that contain high concentration of saturated fats are major contributors to hypertension.

Obesity – People who are overweight have a higher rate of high blood pressure.

Lack of physical activity – Excersize helps the heart in many ways and conversly an inactive lifestyle can lead to high blood pressure.

Age – As people get older their risk of developing hypertension increases.

Stress – People who reported high levels of stress were more likely to have high blood pressure.

Drinking too much alcohol – Anything more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women can lead to high blood pressure.

Smoking and second-hand smoke – Smoking temporarily increases blood pressure and can damage arteries. Even second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and hypertension.

Take this quiz from the American Heart Association to see if you are at risk for high blood pressure.

Here are some helpful links to learn more about high blood pressure and how to prevent and treat it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – About 1 of 3 adults in the US has high blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States. Find ways to prevent high blood pressure at the CDC website.

American Heart Association – Whether diagnosed with high blood pressure and looking for ways to manage it or just learning about this symptomless condition that affects one in three adults in our country, this site will guide you step by step to a healthier you.

High Blood Pressure in African Americans brochure from the AHA – This brochure makes recommendations on how to control high blood pressure, and shares statistics specific to African Americans and heart disease.

Mayo Clinic – Mayo Clinic’s section on high blood pressure.

WebMD – WebMD takes a look at high blood pressure in African-Americans.

International Society on Hypertension in Blacks

Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc.

Some inheritances are a curse. I don’t mean your grandmother’s cabinet of porcelain fawns, nor your uncle’s portfolio of watercolor still lifes, nor the 40 years of Model Railroader magazines stowed in the rafters of your dad’s garage. Worse than any of these is the hand-me-down that could be hiding in your genes. No one wants to wind up with the family’s hereditary disease.

Whether it’s diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or heart disease, having a family history of a hereditary disease can cast a shadow over your life. Some folks try to ignore it, others become obsessed with their family’s medical history and genetics. There’s always that uneasy feeling: Will it get me too?

“A history of hereditary disease can cause a lot of anxiety and worry,” says Adel Gilbert, MS, CGC, a genetic counselor at Johns Hopkins University. “It can really affect your quality of life, or even how you live your life.”

I’ve spent most of my life in this gloom. My father died at 43, unexpectedly, of a stroke. And his father died at 64 (heart attack), and his father at 57 (heart attack), and his father at 61 (stroke). So the average age of death for the past four patriarchs of my family is 56 — a lifespan that would be above average for a 19th century coal miner and superb for a Neanderthal. But it’s not so hot for a man of the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

I’d like to beat the odds. I’m 34 now. I’d like to forestall or avoid the cardiovascular disease that felled my forefathers. Not only would I like to surpass the current record of 64 years — I’d like to exceed that life span by decades.

But is that a foolish hope for a guy with my family history? Is an early expiration date already written indelibly in my genes? Are my chances of getting to 80 any better than a mayfly’s? Under the cover of medical journalism, I turned to genetic experts to find out.

Can Genetic Testing Trump Family History?

“I see lots of people who are convinced they’re genetically doomed,” says Carrie Zabel. She’s a genetic counselor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, whose job is to help people better understand their hereditary risks.

It’s no wonder people can feel so hopeless about their DNA. We view genes and genetic testing with superstitious awe. A news report about the discovery of a gene can sound as ominous as the prophecy of an ancient oracle. Genes seem to control everything — our intelligence, our risk for disease, whether we like anchovies. Each breakthrough in genetic medicine seems to erode a bit more of the tiny allotment of free will that we thought we had.

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As a single, busy woman living in New York City, sick wasn’t a part of my vocabulary when I entered the last year of my 20s. Nonetheless, it soon found its way into my life.

It began with a swollen toe joint, which I easily dismissed as a yoga injury. But when the swelling and pain persisted and began to spread to other parts of my body, I knew something was going wrong. After a series of visits with a primary care physician and a lot of blood work, the test results came back in the “strongly positive” category for rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes severe pain and swelling in the joints, along with a host of other fun symptoms like unshakable fatigue and fevers. As a lifelong overachiever, it was the one test I hadn’t wanted to score highly on.

The next six months of my life were probably some of the darkest, most painful ones I have known. I was not prepared for the onslaught of doctor and physical therapy appointments that came my way, or at how quickly my physical condition deteriorated. It had never occurred to me that I might have trouble washing my hair and dressing myself at the age of 29. But most of all, I was unprepared for the emotional fallout of finding out I had something incurable at such a young age. I felt like my life had only just begun, and yet, it felt like it was suddenly going to end horribly wrong.

Many of the books and resources I found at the time did nothing to dissuade these feelings of isolation and doom. Words like disabled and disfigured screamed out from every page, along with statistics about my increased chances for cancer and heart disease.

To top it all off, the advice and case studies seemed to be geared toward women twice my age and assumed that I was married. Suggestions like “having your husband help you carry the groceries” didn’t do me a whole lot of good, given that I was single and living on my own. My independence had been a source of pride for me, but it suddenly felt more like a liability. How was I supposed to get through this all by myself? Though my family was a wonderful support system, they lived far away, and when you are used to doing everything on your own, it’s difficult and humbling to ask friends to help with things like cleaning your bathroom or getting dressed.

What’s more, there was scant advice on issues that pertained to being young and single—and sick—such as navigating the dating world with a chronic illness and thinking further down the line to having a baby one day. How was having rheumatoid arthritis going to impact all the future decisions of my life?

That’s when I decided that if I wanted my story to be out there, and more importantly, if I wanted to find other young women who were facing the same tough reality about their health, I would have to do it myself.

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VIA: REUTERS.COM

(Reuters Health) – People who get plenty of vitamin K from food may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who get less of the vitamin, a new study suggests.

 
Researchers found that among more than 38,000 Dutch adults they followed for a decade, those who got the most vitamin K in their diets were about 20 percent less likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the study period.

The findings appear to be the first to show a relationship between vitamin K and diabetes risk, and do not prove that the vitamin is the reason for the lower risk, write the researchers, led by Dr. Joline W.J. Beulens of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Instead, they add, the results should fuel further research into whether vitamin K does play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

It’s estimated that more than 23 million, or nearly 11 percent, of U.S. adults have type 2 diabetes. The most important risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history of diabetes and race — with black, Hispanic and Native Americans at higher risk than whites in the U.S. The extent to which specific nutrients in the diet might affect diabetes risk remains unclear.

Vitamin K exists in two natural forms: vitamin K1, or phylloquinone, found largely in green leafy vegetables, as well as some vegetable oils, such as canola and soybean oils; and vitamin K2, or menaquinone, which people get mainly through meat, cheese and eggs.

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VIA: WEBMD.COM

COPD presents 13 million Americans with new challenges and opportunities for better health.

 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Quiz the average person on the street, and how many could tell you what it is? Would you know that it’s the 4th leading cause of death in the United States? Not likely. But that is one of COPD’s unfortunate claims to fame.

A serious and progressive lung disease diagnosed in more than 13 million Americans, COPD develops when lungs become damaged from smoking and sometimes from heavy exposure to pollution, chemicals, or dusts. Genes may also play a role in the development of the disease.

COPD causes airways to become partially blocked, making it very hard to breathe. You can’t reverse the damage it causes, and COPD has no cure. But you can do many things to slow its progression and live a longer, higher-quality life.

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Via: NIM.NIH.Gov
If you frequent your local grocer, you may have encountered this dilemma while in the produce section–whether or not to buy organic. New research has found that there is no strong evidence that organic products have nutritional health benefits.

The few studies that were conducted were short term and showed to have limitations. In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Alan D. Dangour and his colleagues write, “A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and quality of studies.”

No information was gathered detailing the long term effects of eating organic foods and the impact on overall health and the environment. But those who buy organic products consume them for other reasons. Organic products are made without the use of conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics or hormones. All of which may indeed show to have long-term benefits.

Via: WebMD.Com

As women age, the threat of gaining weight increases. There seems to be a solution to this problem. A new study shows women who are at a healthy weight already and get an hour of moderate activity every day can avoid gaining any unwanted pounds.

A lot of research has been done to show how to loose the weight. According to I-Min Lee, ScD, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, “there’s very little research on preventing weight gain in the first place.” Her study concluded the more active participants were the less likely they were to gain weight.

So, as you age and you want to maintain your weight just incorporate moderate activity in your day to day schedule. Moderate activity does not mean you have to run 10 miles per day. Here are some activities to consider: brisk walking, casual bicycling or ballroom dancing.

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Via: MedicineNet.Com

Research shows that there is an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease among men with erectile dysfunction and low testosterone levels. The study, conducted by Dr. Giovanni Corona, observed the testosterone levels of men who were seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Many of those men suffered from heart attacks or other major heart problems. A few men that participated in the study died. Corona found that men who had low testosterone levels were more likely to die of heart problems.

“Our work shows that screening for testosterone deficiency in men with erectile dysfunction may help clinicians identify those at higher risk from cardiovascular events,” Corona said in a news release from the European Society of Endocrinology. “However, at the moment we can’t say whether low testosterone levels are the cause or the consequence of this higher risk.”

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