Father's Diet Influences Next Generation Health

What your father ate could have a big influence on you own personal risk factors for disease find researchers.

According to new evidence, parental health behaviors before conception may play an important role in the health of offspring to a greater degree than previously understood.
Oliver J. Rando, MD, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology at UMMS and principal investigator for the study says, "Knowing what your parents were doing before you were conceived is turning out to be important in determining what disease risk factors you may be carrying."
Scientists have been studying how genetic mutations and DNA changes make humans sick. "A major and underappreciated aspect of what is transmitted from parent to child is ancestral environment," said Dr. Rando. "Our findings suggest there are many ways that parents can 'tell' their children things."
The researchers used mice fed different types of food to find how what a father eats influences the health of next generations. One group of males received a low protein diet and another was fed a standard diet. Offspring of the male mice given a low protein diet were found to have chances consistent with past studies linking paternal diet to epigenetic changes in the next generation.
They specifically found offspring of males fed low protein diet had increased lipid and cholesterol synthesis. One such study performed retrospectively on a Swedish population called the Överkalix Cohort Study, hinted that what a grandfather ate could lead to diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease in second-generation offspring.
According to Rando, Our study begins to rule out the possibility that social and economic factors, or differences in the DNA sequence, may be contributing to what we're seeing. It strongly implicates epigenetic inheritance as a contributing factor to changes in gene function."
Hans A. Hofmann, PhD, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin and a co-author of the study says, "It has increasingly become clear in recent years that mothers can endow their offspring with information about the environment, for instance via early experience and maternal factors, and thus make them possibly better adapted to environmental change. Our results show that offspring can inherit such acquired characters even from a parent they have never directly interacted with, which provides a novel mechanism through which natural selection could act in the course of evolution."
The findings from the study show it may be important to understand what parents eat when assessing for individual disease risk factors, and not just a person’s lifestyle. The researchers say they’re not certain how what your father ate transmits good or bad health, but they plan to explore how genetic information is passed from father to offspring and from mother to future generations.

Mediterranean diet could protect memory by preventing brain damage

Consuming a Mediterranean diet could help keep thinking and memory intact, by protecting the brain from damage. Small brain infarcts (death of tissue and brain cells), that occur with aging, were found less frequently among individuals who follow a Mediterranean diet.
Scientists explored the effect of eating a Mediterranean diet and brain damage among 712 individuals. The diet includes eating fruits, nuts, vegetables, beneficial fats like olive oil, and moderate alcohol in addition to cereals and fish. Lower intake of red meat, dairy and poultry is also a part of the diet and likely responsible for some of the beneficial health effects.
The study group was split into three groups based on how closely they followed a Mediterranean diet. Those who ate mostly Mediterranean foods were found to have thirty six percent fewer areas of brain damage from cerebral infract compared to individuals who followed the diet less strictly.
Among individuals who did not follow a strict Mediterranean diet, the chances of brain damage from infarct was twenty one percent less compared to the group who ate the fewest types of Mediterranean foods.
Study author Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, MSc, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology says, "In this study, not eating a Mediterranean-like diet had about the same effect on the brain as having high blood pressure."
The authors speculate that the reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease associated with a Mediterranean diet, found in prior studies, may be because it keep the brain healthier by preventing damage from tissue death associated with small areas of infarct. Eating a Mediterranean diet could also extend the lives of patients already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, has also been shown to extend lifespan in the general population, and is now is linked to protecting thinking and memory.

American Workers Paying More for Health Insurance

Health insurance is one of the greatest benefits of employment, with employers often sharing the cost of coverage with their employees. More companies are offering the benefit of health insurance to their employees, however, with the economic downturn and the higher cost of claims, many US workers are now paying more for their coverage than in years past.

Health Insurance is a Costly Workplace Benefit

The 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust has found that 69% of companies offer their employees health insurance coverage, up from 60% in 2009. However, the average US worker is paying about $482 more this year for family health coverage, which is about 14% more than last year. In 2010, workers paid almost $4,000 a year for family health coverage.
Employees with individual coverage are paying an average of $899 this year, compared to $779 last year.
Read: Health Insurance Premiums Rising Faster than Paychecks
Annual deductible amounts have increased as well. The report indicates that 27% of employees face deductibles of $1000 or more, compared to 22% of workers a year ago. Workers of smaller companies (3 to 199 employees) are more likely to pay higher deductibles.
According to the report, the total amount of employer contributions for family coverage remains stable, confirming that employers are passing the excess costs of coverage onto their employees. Employers pay an average of $9,773 per employee, down $87 from what they paid last year.
Read: Women's Health Insurance Linked to Education
In response to the poor economy, 30% of employers say they have reduced the scope of health benefits or increased cost sharing.
Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman, Ph.D., said “With the economy struggling, businesses have been shifting more of the costs of health insurance to workers through premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing. This may be helping to stem the rapid rise in premiums that we saw in the early 2000s, but it also means employer coverage is less comprehensive. From a consumer perspective, the cost of health insurance just keeps going up faster than wages.”

New Survey Reveals Women's Attitudes About Feminine Health

Health and women

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive� � for the Vagisil Women's Health CenterSM reveals that a large number of today's American women are taking active roles in their own feminine health and hygiene. According to the national survey, nearly two thirds of women aged 18 and older (63 percent) report that they go to a gynecologist, and of those who go to a gynecologist, 61 percent say they "always" go for their annual exams.
However, the survey also reveals the lingering presence of old "hang-ups" when it comes to feminine health, with almost one in four women (23 percent) aged 18 and older who go to gynecologists admitting that they have not been completely honest about their feminine health habits with their gynecologists.
A level of embarrassment in discussing women's anatomy also exists, as the survey revealed that less than half (43 percent) of women indicating that they are completely comfortable discussing their genitals and using the word "vagina." Specific inhibitions include 15 percent of women who indicate that they can say the word around other women, but not when men are around, and 14 percent who indicate they would rather use another phrase to refer to it, such as "down there."
"The fact that many women are going to see their doctors, and doing so along the recommended guidelines, is a strong step in the right direction," says Adelaide Nardone, M.D., FACOG, Clinical Instructor of Ob/Gyn at the Brown University School of Medicine and Medical Advisor to the Vagisil Women's Health CenterSM. "However, there are still many women who need to start taking charge of their gynecological health, put the embarrassment aside and foster frank, open relationships and discussions with their doctors."
Younger women (29 percent of those aged 18-34) and single vs. married women (34 percent vs. 20 percent, respectively) are more likely to admit to not being completely honest with their doctors. The top five subjects women are dishonest about are the fact that they smoke or have smoked, exercise habits, diet, number of sexual partners they have/have had and the number of alcoholic drinks they have per week.
According to Dr. Nardone, dishonesty with a doctor can have serious consequences.
"One example is smoking � � � � � � � �" there are certain methods of birth control with which women should not be smoking, so if you don't admit to this habit, you could be putting yourself at risk," says Dr. Nardone. "If you feel you have to withhold information about your lifestyle from your physician, you should ask yourself why. Try to find a health care provider who is of the age, gender and/or viewpoint with which you can identify."
Word-of-mouth appears to be a good referral for OB/GYNs, as about one in three women (35 percent) indicate they chose their doctor based on a great reputation or recommendation.
Common Health and Hygiene Issues: Itch and Odor
Forty-three percent of U.S. women aged 18 and older indicate having experienced vaginal itching. This problem is more prevalent in women under the age of 45 (50 percent of sufferers are age 18-44). Over half of women who experience vaginal itching (57 percent) indicate that they will self-treat external vaginal itch or an infection with over-the-counter medications first, before going to the doctor. However, only 13 percent indicate that they can always tell when external vaginal itch is result of an infection. Dr. Nardone recommends erring on the side of caution when it comes to problems such as itching.
"It's important to be careful when treating a condition such as itching, particularly if you suspect that it might be the result of an infection," said Dr. Nardone. "It's always wise to consult with a doctor if it's the first time you've experienced this, as the symptom may be a result of a different problem from the one you suspect. Itching may be relieved with over-the-counter products such as Vagisil� � Maximum Strength Anti-Itch Creme or Wipes, but some itches are caused by infections. Infections often require prescription medication. If the medication to treat the infection is used internally, it may be used in conjunction with external anti-itch treatments."
Almost one in four women (23 percent) indicate that they are "very conscious" of their vaginal or external vaginal odor, with one in six (17 percent) saying that they are self-conscious about it when being intimate with a partner. Ten percent of women report using products to combat vaginal odor.
Almost half of U.S. women (47 percent) indicate that they use feminine health products for various purposes. Almost one in four (24 percent) women use feminine health products to clean the feminine area or to absorb excess discharge. Of those, the most common products used (by 12 percent) are feminine cleansing cloths. One in six women (17 percent) indicate that they use products to treat or ease feminine itching and one in six (17 percent) use lubricants to reduce or ease the discomfort of vaginal dryness.
"V" Fashion
Fashion and grooming trends have extended below the waist. One fourth (25 percent) of all women aged 18 and older report that they "closely trim their pubic hair with scissors or clippers," and 23 percent say they shave part of their pubic hair off. Nine percent say they shave all of their pubic hair off.
Women in the 18 to 44 age group are more likely to remove hair in their pubic region than women over 45, perhaps because this age group is more likely to think that men prefer a well-manicured pubic region on a woman (38 percent of women aged 18-44 think most men prefer a manicured look, compared to 14 percent of women aged 45-54 and 3 percent of those aged 55 and older). The look can sometimes come with a price, however, as one in six women (17%) experience itching and/or irritation following pubic hair removal.

In Lack of Health Insurance Coverage Texas Is First

Texas is at the top of the heap again – this time we are the most uninsured state, health care-wise, in the country. Oh wait, being without health insurance coverage is not a good thing, is it? One in four people in Texas can't afford to have health insurance.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report today stating that the number of uninsured in America was down to just 15.3% in 2007. But not in Texas. In 2007, Lone Star state residents went from 23.9% uninsured to 24.8%.
John Greeley, public information officer for the Texas Department of Insurance told Hair Balls:
"Some of the things that we have identified as contributing to the number of uninsured in Texas, with regards to health insurance, are the high number of small businesses that are paying a relatively low wage that we have in the state. Our number of people getting employer coverage is less than in other states. There’s an economic climate in Texas that is very much free enterprise, which affects that. Other factors are that health care cost more here. Also, we have overall lower household wages. Those are some of the factors that we looked at last year and they haven’t really changed."
Race and place of birth are definitely factors in getting – or rather not getting – health insurance coverage. 32.1% of Hispanics in Texas are uninsured, but in all 49 other states, that rate was less than 20%. (Only Native Americans and Alaskan Natives rivaled the Hispanic rates, at 31.9%.)
For the country as a whole, 43.8% of non-citizens are uninsured, while U.S.-born citizens have only a 12.7% uninsured rate. Greeley said he didn’t have any comments on the possible correlation between race/place of birth and health insurance percentages.
But all hope is not lost.
Greeley says the lack of health insurance coverage in Texas hasn’t gone unnoticed: “Texas has had a number of initiatives started to address the problem of the uninsured. There’s a lot of activity, a lot of legislative activity that is happening. We’re finishing up two interim studies."
He continues:
"One of them is more affordable options for small businesses to offer health insurance, ways to make it easier for them including premium subsidies, help to cover the cost to the business. We’re also looking at that for individuals, other sources of funds that might be used to cover their health insurance premiums. We’ve also been involved, the Governor’s Office and other state agencies, in seeking a waiver from Medicare that would allow qualified individuals to use funds from Medicare to buy private health insurance."
Those health insurance programs in Texas should be in place in the next five to ten years. Hope we can stay healthy that long.