Healthy Tips from HealthyLife

Beth Cooney offers tips to keep you healthy
About Beth Cooney

Archive for February, 2011

Almonds, Diabetes and Heart Disease

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

If you eat almonds on a regular basis, you might be decreasing your chances of developing diabetes. That’s according to a recent study by researchers from Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. According to the study, consuming an almond-rich diet may help improve insulin sensitivity and decrease LDL-cholesterol levels in those with prediabetes, a condition that is the precursor to type 2 diabetes.

The researchers looked at the effects of eating an almond-enriched diet on factors linked to the progression of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in 65 adults (48 women and 17 men, average age of 53.5) with prediabetes. They found that after 16 weeks of eating either a regular diet or an almond-enriched diet , the group that ate the diet high in almonds showed significantly improved LDL-cholesterol levels and measures of insulin sensitivity, which are risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. However, researchers note that although study participants in both groups were told to consume the same amount of calories from carbohydrates, those in the almond group reported less intake of carbs.

The authors of the study say these findings suggest that consuming an American Diabetes Association (ADA)-recommended diet consisting of 20 % of total calories from almonds for 16 weeks is effective in improving LDL cholesterol levels and measures of insulin sensitivity in people with prediabetes. However, they admit that more tightly controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Diagnosis Uncertainty and Anxiety

Monday, February 7, 2011 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments(1)
|
|

If you’ve ever felt uneasy sitting in a doctor’s waiting room or nervous waiting for your test results, you might be causing yourself even more stress than knowing you have a serious illness. That’s the findings of a recent study by researchers at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers studied the stress levels of 214 women scheduled to undergo different diagnostic and treatment procedures. The women completed four standardized tests measuring stress and anxiety levels immediately prior to the procedures. 112 out of the 214 women were awaiting breast biopsy, while 42 were awaiting a treatment for liver cancer called hepatic chemoembolization and 60 were awaiting uterine fibroidembolization, a treatment for uterine myoma or benign fibroids.

The patients about to undergo a breast biopsy reported significantly higher levels of anxiety than chemoembolization patients and fibroid embolization patients, but all the patients reported anxiety.

The authors of study say these results prove that the distress of not knowing your diagnosis is serious, a fact they don’t believe health care providers and patients are fully aware of. They urge training for providers in how to talk to patients, so they can take steps to diffuse tension and help patients to shape expectations in a more helpful fashion.

Gender and Sleep Interruption

Thursday, February 3, 2011 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

If you’ve had kids, this new research may not come as much of a surprise to you. According to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan, working mothers are two-and-a-half times as likely as working fathers to interrupt their sleep to take care of others.

This is the first known nationally representative data that documents substantial gender differences in getting up at night, mainly with babies and small children. Not only are women more likely to get up at night to care for others, but their sleep interruptions also last longer — an average of 44 minutes, compared to about 30 minutes for men.

The researchers analyzed time-diary data from about 20,000 working parents from 2003 to 2007, and found that the gender gap in sleep interruptions was greatest during the prime childbearing and child-rearing years of the twenties and thirties. 32 percent of women in dual-career couples with a child under the age of one reported sleep interruptions to take care of the baby, compared with only 11 percent of men. The proportion of women and men reporting interrupted sleep declined with the age of the child.

The authors of the study found it especially surprising that gender differences remained even after adjusting for the employment status, income and education levels of each parent.

They say these findings have implications for public health interventions to improve sleep. But, they admit, for parents of young children the best approach might be negotiations about whose turn it is to get up with the baby tonight. Good luck with that!

Fruit and Lung Cancer Risk

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Here’s something else you can do to prevent your risk of lung cancer – eat plenty of different kinds of fruit. According to a recent study, eating a variety of fruits can reduce the risk by up to 23%.

Experts frequently recommend eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to prevent cancer. But European researchers have found that, in the case of lung cancer, the important thing is not just the quantity but also the variety of fruits consumed.

Interestingly, a significant link was only found in smokers. According to the findings of the study, for every two additional units of different kinds of fruits and vegetables in the diet, the risk of lung cancer falls by 3%.

Of course, say the researchers, the most effective way of preventing lung cancer is not smoking.

Page 2 of 212