Health News

Skin color improves as consumption increases, researchers say

THURSDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- The key to a rosy, healthy-looking complexion may be as simple as eating more fruits and vegetables, researchers say.

"We found that within a six-week period, fluctuation in fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with skin-color changes," said lead researcher Ross Whitehead, from the School of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Not only did skin look healthier at the end of the study period, it was judged more attractive as well, he said. "Eat more fruits and veggies to improve your appearance," he added.

Practically, this may be a useful motivational tool for dieters, Whitehead said. "We are currently running randomized controlled trials to investigate whether seeing the potential appearance gains on images of one's own face are sufficient to motivate dietary change. Pilot trials have been encouraging so far," he added.

For the study, published March 7 in the online journal PLoS ONE, Whitehead's group looked at the fruits and vegetables 35 people ate over a six-week period.

They found that redness and yellowness in skin increased as more fruits and vegetables were consumed.

This is due to the impact of carotenoids, Whitehead said. "These are red/yellow plant pigments, which are distributed to the skin surface when we eat fruits and veggies," he said.

The changes in skin color that were associated with eating more fruits and vegetables were linked in a second experiment with increased attractiveness. This suggests that skin color reflects better health, the researchers said.

"Our study suggests that an increase in fruit and veggie consumption of around three portions over a six-week period is sufficient to convey perceptible improvements in the apparent healthiness and attractiveness of facial skin," Whitehead said.

"Conversely, those that worsened their diet became paler," he said.

The carotenoids studied included beta-carotene and lycopene. Foods rich in beta-carotene include carrots, yams, spinach, peaches, pumpkin and apricots. Lycopene is present in apricots, watermelons, tomatoes and pink grapefruits.

Nearly all of the study participants were white, so more work is needed to see how diet affects other groups, the researchers noted.

Also, the study was small, and the results merely show an association not cause and effect.

Still, other experts supported the findings. "This is something I have been saying for a very long time," said Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

"We are really what we eat, and it shows in your skin -- and there are no shortcuts," she added.

There are studies that show a high-antioxidant diet -- one with olive oil, nuts, more fruits and vegetables and less dairy and red meat -- helps skin resist aging changes and skin cancer, Day said.

"You want to look for different colors of fruits and vegetables, because each color has its own special benefit," Day added.

Also, opt for the fruit itself, including skin and pulp, rather than juice. "If you eat the whole plant, then you have the best chance of getting the whole benefit from the plant," she added.

"Your skin is a reflection of your overall general health," Day said. "The healthier your skin is, the better it functions, the more it can help the rest of your body function; the healthier the rest of your body is, the healthier your skin is as well."

Samantha Heller, a dietitian and nutritionist at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., agreed. "Fruits and vegetables are loaded with healthy plant compounds that keep skin healthy, structurally strong and protect it from the damaging rays of the sun," she said.

It has long been known that many plant substances, such as the carotenoids beta-carotene and lycopene, contribute to the skin color, she said.

"These compounds are also potent disease fighters," she added.

Only 25 percent to 30 percent of Americans eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and efforts to increase consumption have not been too successful, Heller noted.

"But once the word gets out that eating fruits and vegetables can make you sexy, attractive and maybe even look younger, hopefully, the carrots, kale and cantaloupe will be flying off the shelves and into people's meals," she said.

More information

For more information on a healthy diet, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Certain Beliefs Motivate Health Care Workers to Get Flu Shots
Doctors, nurses don't always rush to immunization, review finds

THURSDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- The belief that a seasonal flu shot is effective is far more likely to convince health care workers to get vaccinated than reminding them it will help safeguard patients, a new study suggests.

In many developed countries, it's difficult to persuade frontline health care workers to get seasonal flu vaccinations in order to protect patients from the flu, the researchers noted.

To examine the issue more closely, the investigators reviewed 13 studies that included a total of nearly 85,000 health care workers in North America, Europe and Australia.

Overall, doctors were more willing than nurses to get a flu vaccination, according to the study published March 7 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The researchers identified a number of factors that had the strongest influence on health care workers' decision to get vaccinated. All of these factors were associated with a greater-than-double increase in flu vaccination: knowing the vaccine is effective; a willingness to prevent the spread of the flu virus; a belief that the virus is highly contagious and that prevention is important; having a family that is usually vaccinated; and convenient access to vaccination.

Factors that had little influence on health care workers' motivation to get vaccinated included: willingness to protect either themselves or patients at risk of complications if they caught the flu; previous experience with having the flu; being in contact with children; or having direct patient contact.

"Influenza vaccination will only be successful in [health care workers] if they are properly educated and if the vaccine is easily accessible," researchers led by Dr. Giedre Gefenaite, at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, concluded in a journal news release.

The study authors noted that many differences exist between seasonal flu and pandemic flu, but some of the pro-vaccination factors identified in this study may be important in a pandemic.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about seasonal flu vaccination.

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Lost Hour of Sleep Over Weekend May Put Heart at Risk Monday

THURSDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) — Not only do you lose an hour of sleep after the clocks move ahead to daylight-saving time this weekend, but you also may be at increased risk for a heart attack, a heart expert claims.
“The Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks ahead … is associated with a 10 percent increase in the risk of having a heart attack,” Martin Young, an associate professor in the cardiovascular disease division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a university news release. “The opposite is true when falling back in October. This risk decreases by about 10 percent.”

The heart-attack risk isn’t higher on the Sunday morning after clocks move ahead one hour because most people don’t have to make an abrupt change in their daily schedule. The risk peaks on Monday, when most people get up earlier to go to work, Young noted.
“Exactly why this happens is not known but there are several theories,” Young said. “Sleep deprivation, the body’s circadian clock and immune responses all can come into play when considering reasons that changing the time by an hour can be detrimental to someone’s health.”
Although the study uncovered an association between sleep loss and heart-attack risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Young explained that people “who are sleep-deprived weigh more and are at an increased risk of developing diabetes or heart disease. Sleep deprivation also can alter other body processes, including inflammatory response, which can contribute to a heart attack. And your reaction to sleep deprivation and the time change also depends on whether you are a morning person or night owl. Night owls have a much more difficult time with ‘springing forward.’”
Young also outlined the possible role of the circadian clock.
“Every cell in the body has its own clock that allows it to anticipate when something is going to happen and prepare for it,” he said. “When there is a shift in one’s environment, such as ‘springing forward,’ it takes a while for the cells to readjust.”
The immune system also may play a role in the increased risk. “Immune cells have a clock, and the immune response depends greatly on the time of day,” Young said.
Young offered tips for adapting to the time change:

• Wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal on Saturday and Sunday to help prepare you for an early start on Monday.
• Eat a healthy breakfast.
• Head outside to catch some sunlight in the early morning.
• Spend a few minutes getting some morning exercise over the weekend, as long as you don’t have heart disease.

“Doing all of this will help reset both the central, or master, clock in the brain that reacts to changes in light/dark cycles, and the peripheral clocks — the ones everywhere else including the one in the heart — that react to food intake and physical activity,” Young said. “This will enable your body to naturally sync with the change in the environment, which may lessen your chance of adverse health issues on Monday.”
More information
The U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences has more about circadian rhythms.
– Robert Preidt        

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Alzheimer’s, Dementia Care to Cost U.S. $200 Billion This Year

THURSDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) — Caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia will cost the United States about $200 billion this year, a total that includes $140 billion paid by Medicare and Medicaid, new statistics released Thursday show.

Medicaid payments are 19 times higher for seniors with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and Medicare payments for the conditions are nearly three times higher, compared to payments for other patients, according to the “2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures” report from the Alzheimer’s Association.

Nearly 30 percent of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, compared to 11 percent of people without the conditions. This means that Medicare and Medicaid costs associated with Alzheimer’s and other dementias will continue to rise as baby boomers age, the report said.
“Alzheimer’s is already a crisis, and it’s growing worse with every year,” Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, said in an association news release.
“While lives affected and care costs soar, the cost of doing nothing is far greater than acting now. Alzheimer’s is a tremendous cost-driver for families and for Medicare and Medicaid. This crisis simply cannot be allowed to reach its maximum scale because it will overwhelm an already overburdened system,” Johns added.
Most people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias have at least one other serious chronic health problem, and Alzheimer’s acts as a “cost multiplier” on these other diseases, according to the report.
For example, the statistics showed a senior with diabetes and Alzheimer’s costs Medicare 81 percent more than a senior with diabetes alone. And a senior with cancer and Alzheimer’s costs Medicare 53 percent more than a senior with cancer alone.
Mental impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s and other dementias complicates the management of care, resulting in more and longer hospital stays, the authors noted in the news release.
“This disease must be addressed on parallel tracks: supporting research to find treatments that cure, delay or prevent the disease, and offering assistance and support to the more than 5 million Americans now living with Alzheimer’s and their more than 15 million caregivers,” Johns said.
“This is what the National Alzheimer’s Plan is all about. Caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias costs America $200 billion in just one year. By committing just 1 percent of that cost, $2 billion, to research, it could begin to put the nation on a path to effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure,” he noted.
The report also said that 800,000 people with Alzheimer’s — one out of seven — live alone, and that up to half of them do not have an identifiable caregiver. That puts them at increased risk for such health problems as missed or delayed diagnosis, malnutrition and untreated medical conditions. They’re also at increased risk for wandering away from home unattended and for accidental death.
Alzheimer’s patients who live alone tend to be older, female and have lower levels of cognitive (memory and thinking) impairment, the report noted. However, they still face major challenges in performing daily tasks such as managing money and medications, shopping and preparing meals.
“Advance planning is important for everyone, particularly for individuals who have Alzheimer’s or other dementias; but for the population that has Alzheimer’s and lives alone, future planning is absolutely critical,” Beth Kallmyer, vice president of constituent services for the Alzheimer’s Association, said in the news release.
According to the association, an estimated 5.4 million people have Alzheimer’s disease, and 15.2 million of their friends and family members provide 17.4 billion hours of unpaid care.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about Alzheimer’s disease.

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Insulin Resistance May Lead to Kidney Disease in the Elderly: Study

THURSDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) — Elderly people with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for chronic kidney disease, and insulin resistance may be the central hub that links metabolic syndrome and kidney-function decline, according to a new study.

People are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome when they have at least three risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, including: high blood pressure, high blood-sugar (glucose) levels, high triglycerides (fat in the blood), low levels of “good” (HDL) cholesterol and too much abdominal fat.

The study included 1,456 people, aged 65 and older, in Taiwan who were followed for an average of more than three years. The findings will appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
“Our study found that metabolic syndrome predicts both the prevalence and incidence of chronic kidney disease in people aged 65 years or older,” the lead investigator, Dr. Chung-Jen Yen, of National Taiwan University in Taipei, said in a journal news release.
“We also found that rapid decline in renal function is more likely found in individuals with insulin resistance and high blood-sugar levels,” Yen added.
The findings suggest “that people can safeguard their kidneys when they take care of their blood glucose levels and lose weight,” Yen said. “Further studies are needed to assess the impact of treating metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance on renal outcomes in the elderly population.”
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about metabolic syndrome.

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