Jonathan Kantrowitz

I will certainly stop eating protein before major surgery in the future – but just not into total diet restriction:

Protein-free diet good for you?

Limiting certain essential nutrients for several days before surgery—either protein or amino acids—may reduce the risk of serious surgical complications such as heart attack or stroke, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study.

The results are significant because they pinpoint protein as an important substance to eliminate from the diet before surgery to avoid complications. Stroke risk related to cardiovascular surgery ranges from 0.8% to 9.7%, depending on the procedure. Heart attack risk is 3% to 4%.

In numerous animal studies over the past few decades, scientists have found that long-term dietary restriction can improve health and lengthen life. Benefits include increased stress resistance, reduced inflammation, improved blood sugar regulation, and better cardiovascular health—and many of these benefits extend to humans.

I really, really don’t know what to do about Vitamin D

Vitamin D could help combat the effects of aging in eyes

Vitamin D statement- European Menopause and Andropause Society

Osteoporosis is a common condition in postmenopausal women leading to bone fractures. However, there is now evidence that vitamin D deficiency is also associated with other medical conditions important in older women. These include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, infections and neurodegenerative disease. Regular sunlight exposure (without sunscreens) for 15 minutes, 3-4 times a week, in the middle of the day in summer can generate healthy levels. Supplements of vitamin D are recommended for those women who cannot obtain the required quantity through sun exposure and diet. The recommended daily allowance is 600 IU/day increasing to 800IU/day for those aged 71 years and older.

Low vitamin D levels linked to depression,

But:

When It Comes to Heart Health, How Much Is Too Much Vitamin D?

New research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that vitamin D, long known to be important for bone health and in recent years also for heart protection, may stop conferring cardiovascular benefits and could actually cause harm as levels in the blood rise above the low end of what is considered normal.

Study leader Muhammad Amer, M.D., an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says his findings show that increasing levels of vitamin D in the blood are linked with lower levels of a popular marker for cardiovascular inflammation — c-reactive protein (also known as CRP).

Amer and his colleague Rehan Qayyum, M.D., M.H.S., examined data from more than 15,000 adult participants in the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative sample, from 2001 and 2006. They found an inverse relationship between vitamin D and CRP in adults without cardiovascular symptoms but with relatively low vitamin D levels. Healthier, lower levels of inflammation were found in people with normal or close to normal vitamin D levels. But beyond blood levels of 21 nanograms per milliliter of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D — considered the low end of the normal range for vitamin D — any additional increase in vitamin D was associated with an increase in CRP, a factor linked to stiffening of the blood vessels and an increased risk of cardiovascular problems.

“The inflammation that was curtailed by vitamin D does not appear to be curtailed at higher levels of vitamin D,” says Amer, whose newest finding appears in the Jan. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. “Clearly vitamin D is important for your heart health, especially if you have low blood levels of vitamin D. It reduces cardiovascular inflammation and atherosclerosis, and may reduce mortality, but it appears that at some point it can be too much of a good thing.”

Amer says consumers should exercise caution before taking supplements and physicians should know the potential risks. Each 100 international unit of vitamin D ingested daily produces about a one nanogram per milliliter increase 25-Hydroxyvitamin D levels in the blood. “People taking vitamin D supplements need to be sure the supplements are necessary,” Amer says. “Those pills could have unforeseen consequences to health even if they are not technically toxic.”

Amer and Qayyum, also an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine at Hopkins, say the biological and molecular mechanisms that account for the loss of cardiovascular benefits are unclear.

Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because its primary source is the sun. It is found in very few foods, though commercially sold milk is usually fortified with it. As people spend more and more time indoors and slather their bodies with sunscreen, concern is rising that many are vitamin D-deficient, Amer notes.

As a result, Amer says, many doctors prescribe vitamin D supplements, and many consumers, after reading news stories about the vitamin’s benefits, dose themselves. Older women often take large doses to fight and prevent osteoporosis.

Well this is good news: (McDonalds fish sandwich is fried in a combination of sunflower and canola oil. Read more:) Wendy’s fired items, on the other hand are cooked in soy, corn, cottonseed, and hydrogenated soy oil. Read more

No cardiac risk with food fried in olive, sunflower oil

In a Mediterranean country where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no association was observed between fried food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death.

I’ve been good about eating a bit of dark chocolate every day (2 squares):

Cocoa could prevent intestinal pathologies such as colon cancer

The growing interest amongst the scientific community to identify those foods capable of preventing diseases has now categorized cocoa as a ‘superfood’. It has been recognised as an excellent source of phytochemical compounds, which offer potential health benefits.

Headed by scientists from the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN) and recently published in the Molecular Nutrition & Food Research journal, the new study supports this idea and upholds that cacao consumption helps to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, such as the onset of chemically induced colon carcinogenesis.

Although more research is required to determine what bioactive compounds in cocoa are responsible for such effects, the authors conclude that a cocoa-rich diet seems capable of reducing induced oxidative stress. It could also have protection properties in the initial stages of colon cancer as it reduces premalignant neoplastic lesion formation.

I’ve been pretty good on fruits and vegetables, including olive oil and a limited amount of orange juice every day:

Plant Flavonoid Luteolin Blocks Cell Signaling Pathways in Colon Cancer Cells

Luteolin is a flavonoid commonly found in fruit and vegetables. Dietary sources include celery, green pepper, thyme, perilla, chamomile tea, carrots, olive oil, peppermint, rosemary, navel oranges, and oregano. This compound has been shown in laboratory conditions to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties but results from epidemiological studies have been less certain. New research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Gastroenterology shows that luteolin is able to inhibit the activity of cell signaling pathways (IGF and PI3K) important for the growth of cancer in colon cancer cells. Colon cancer is the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death in the Western World.

I do get a lot of fiber in my diet – that’s good, right?

Increase Dietary Fiber, Decrease Disease

We should all be eating more dietary fiber to improve our health — that’s the message from a health review by scientists in India. The team has looked at research conducted into dietary fiber during the last few decades across the globe and now suggests that to avoid initial problems, such as intestinal gas and loose stool, it is best to increase intake gradually and to spread high-fiber foods out throughout the day, at meals and snacks. Writing in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, the team offers fruit, vegetables, whole-grain foods, such as muesli and porridge, beans and pulses, as readily available foods rich in dietary fiber.

Dietary fiber, also known as roughage, is the general term of the non-digestible parts of the fruit and vegetable products we eat. There are two forms soluble and insoluble. Soluble (prebiotic, viscous) fiber that is readily broken down or fermented in the colon into physiologically active byproducts and gases. The second form is insoluble fiber, which is metabolically inert, but absorbs water as it passes through the digestive system, providing bulk for the intestinal muscles to work against and easing defecation.

Given that dietary fiber has physiological actions such as reducing cholesterol and attenuating blood glucose, maintaining gastrointestinal health, and positively affecting calcium bioavailability and immune function, it is important for the current generation and future generations that this component of our diets be reasserted through education and information.

“Consuming adequate quantities of DF can lead to improvements in gastrointestinal health, and reduction in susceptibility to diseases such as diverticular disease, heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes. Increased consumption has also been associated with increased satiety and weight loss,” the team concludes. Given the ready availability particularly in the West and in the relatively richer parts of the developing world of vegetables, fruit and other foods high in dietary fiber it is a matter of recommending that people eat more dietary fiber rather than consistently taking the unhealthy low-fiber option throughout their lives.

But:

Diets high in fiber MAY CAUSE, not protect against, diverticulosis

For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person’s risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true.

“We were surprised to find that a low-fiber diet was not associated with a higher prevalence of asymptomatic diverticulosis,” said Peery. In fact, the study found those with the lowest fiber intake were 30 percent less likely to develop diverticula than those with the highest fiber intake.

Diverticulosis affects about one-third of adults over age 60 in the United States. Although most cases are asymptomatic, when complications develop they can be severe, resulting in infections, bleeding, intestinal perforations and even death. Health care associated with such complications costs an estimated $2.5 billion per year.

Since the late 1960s, doctors have recommended a high-fiber diet to regulate bowel movements and reduce the risk of diverticulosis. This recommendation is based on the idea that a low fiber diet will cause constipation and in turn generate diverticula as a result of increased pressure in the colon. However, few studies have been conducted to back up that assumption. “Our findings dispute commonly-held beliefs because asymptomatic diverticulosis has never been rigorously studied,” said Peery.

The study also found constipation was not a risk factor and that having more frequent bowel movements actually increased a person’s risk. Compared to those with fewer than seven bowel movements per week, individuals with more than 15 bowel movements per week were 70 percent more likely to develop diverticulosis.

The study found no association between diverticulosis and physical inactivity, intake of fat, or intake of red meat. The disease’s causes remain unknown, but the researchers believe gut flora may play a role.

I don’t think I’m ready for virtual reality exercise yet, but if I did it I’d be more likely to be open to it:

Virtual reality-enhanced exercise = +cognitive benefit for older adults

Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality

A program designed to boost cognition in older adults also increased their openness to new experiences, researchers report, demonstrating for the first time that a non-drug intervention in older adults can change a personality trait once thought to be fixed throughout the lifespan.

Other things I do, or eat that are good:

Grapes may help prevent age-related blindness

Alcohol & polyphenols in red wine both fight cardiovascular disease

Moderate red wine drinking may help cut women’s breast cancer risk

Chlorophyll in green vegetables can prevent cancer

Omega-3 fatty acids could prevent and treat nerve damage

I still eat too much of these:

Red & processed meat consumption = increased pancreatic cancer risk.

This is interesting:

Dispelling the low-fat-is-healthy myth

Dozens of studies, many from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, have shown that low-fat diets are no better for health than moderate- or high-fat diets—and for many people, may be worse. A regular blueberry muffin from a national coffee shop chain has 450 calories on average and most of those calories come from carbohydrates, primarily white flour and sugar. However, now that national chains have eliminated trans fats, a regular muffin does have heart-healthy fat, usually from soybean or canola oil. A low-fat muffin has about the same amount of calories, but contains more carbohydrates and sugar—and about 60% more sodium (700 milligrams)—than a regular muffin.

Well, this is ununusual. A labor union weighing in on a Republian primary. Guess AFSCME thinks Newt would be a weaker candidate than Mitt:

Here’s what FactCheck.org says about this ad:

The ad, called “Greed,” says that “while Romney was a director at the Damon Corporation, the company was defrauding Medicare of millions,” and that “the company was fined $100 million, but Romney, himself, made a fortune.”

Some viewers could be misled by this ad. Fraud did occur while Romney was a member of the board of the Damon Corp., which pleaded guilty in 1996 to defrauding Medicare of $25 million between 1988 and 1993. But Romney was never accused of fraud personally.

Nevertheless, the company paid a then-record $119 million fine for billing the federal health insurance program for unnecessary blood tests, according to a 2002 Boston Globe report. Romney, who was on Damon’s board from 1990 to 1993, personally collected $473,000 when Bain Capital, which Romney once headed, sold the Damon Corp. to Corning Inc. in 1993.

The ad closes by morphing an image of Romney into one of Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and asks: “Corporate greed. Medicare fraud. Sound familiar?” And indeed, that scenario does sound familiar.

As we previously reported, Scott’s former hospital company, Columbia/HCA, paid $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud for practices that took place while he was its chief executive officer. And when Scott left the company in 1997, he received $300 million in stocks and options.

The Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER), a non-profit organization representing business and civic leaders, outlined its legislative priorities today. CCER’s mission is to represent the business and civic voice for comprehensive reform efforts to close the achievement gap while raising academic outcomes for all students in Connecticut.

CCER’s priorities for the 2012 legislative session include:

1. Teacher and leader employment and retention policies that attract the highest quality professionals and insist upon effectiveness as defined by their ability to demonstrate improvement in student performance, not seniority, as the measure of success defined by redesigned evaluation systems.
2. A system of high-quality academic interventions for every K-12 student who is behind in reading and math, which may include summer school or extended learning time, and a high school graduation assessment to ensure that a high school diploma reflects levels of competence.
3. A state strategy for addressing turnaround schools and districts, which includes specific recommendations for increasing authority, accountability, parental choice and funding that follows the child.
4. A chart of common accounts for accountability of state funds to determine the effective use of funds to improve student performance. 
5. A multi-year phase-in process to provide sufficient funding for all low-income three and four year olds to attend a high-quality preschool program.

The second and fourth of these are excellent priorities, as is the first if it can be accomplished with the input and acceptance by teachers.

It’s the third that expresses all that’s wrong with education reform. Funding following the child is code for more money for charter schools and less for local districts. Charter schools and “choice,” will not begin to address the problems identified here in Connecticut, and will harm public schools systems striving to improve .

AFT Connecticut announced their support for Democratic candidate for the Fifth Congressional District Chris Donovan today in Meriden. AFT Connecticut, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, represents more than 28,000 members in more than 90 local unions across Connecticut. AFT Connecticut represents teachers and school related personnel, state and municipal employees, healthcare professionals, and higher education faculty.

“Chris has been one of the strongest supporters of teachers, students and public education in Connecticut, so this was an easy decision for our union to make. We are proud to offer our endorsement to Chris Donovan, and we pledge to work hard for his election to Congress.” said Sharon Palmer, President of AFT Connecticut. “We trust Chris to fight for the issues important to students, parents and teachers – to improve our public schools, for increased access to early childhood education, and to make higher education more affordable. ”

“I thank the members of AFT Connecticut for their support and endorsement, and I’m excited to be working with them. From my experience teaching at the University of Hartford, I know just how difficult the jobs of these hard working teachers are, and how important. We must commit to supporting our students, teachers, and schools, to making early childhood education a reality for all of our children, and to bring higher education within reach for every student,” said Donovan.

AFT Connecticut joins former 5th CD Congressman Jim Maloney, Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman, Connecticut Working Families Party, the Newtown DTC, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Blue America, AFSCME Council 15, the Connecticut Council of Police, the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut State Council of Machinists, the IAFF – Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, United Auto Workers Region 9A, the Connecticut Laborers District Council, and the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 777 in endorsing Chris Donovan as the best candidate to fight for the families of Connecticut’s fifth congressional district.

That about sums him up:

From the Romney campaign, as described here.

A new report by Connecticut Voices for Children finds that the exclusion of thousands of students with disabilities from reported Connecticut Mastery Test results has distorted reported trends in test scores.

Following test scores from year to year in the same grade, the study finds that statewide improvements in standard Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) scores reported by the Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE) between 2008 and 2009 — the period of the largest reported gains — were largely the result of the exclusion of students with disabilities from these standard test results, rather than overall improvements in performance. For example, 84% of the reported improvement in 4th grade math proficiency between 2008 and 2009 and 69% of the improvement in 8th grade reading proficiency could be attributed to the exclusion of these students. Much of the reported improvements in later years could also be attributed to this exclusion, though there were some modest overall gains as well.

In 2009, state and federal policy changes enabled school districts to offer a modified assessment (MAS) to students with disabilities that the districts determined would not have passed the CMT in math and/or reading. As a result of these policy changes, the share of students taking the regular CMT declined substantially. Prior to 2009, students who did not reach the proficient level on the CMT because of their disabilities were included in statewide CMT results. In 2009, thousands of low-scoring students were assigned to take the MAS test instead of the standard CMT, and these students were not included in the CMT results. Thus, CMT scores reported by the State Department of Education appeared to improve in large part because these low-scoring students were no longer included in the calculations.

The analysis by Connecticut Voices for Children, a research-based think tank, focused on 4th and 8th grade CMT scores and also finds:

· Across school districts, there was a very strong correlation between a declining percentage of students taking the standard CMT and increasing percentages of students reported as reaching proficient scores – ie, as more students with disabilities were excluded from score results, more students were reported as reaching the proficiency level.

· If students with disabilities that took the modified assessment in reading and math in 2009 to 2011 were included in the total sample of 4th and 8th grade test takers, then the revised percentages of students at or above the proficient level would be two to three percentage points lower than the state reported. There were some modest improvements in scores, but not to the degree that the state initially reported.

· The percentage of students who were assigned to take the MAS rather than the standard CMT varied substantially across school districts – from 0% to 12.8%. Most districts had some participation on the modified assessment that affected their test score data.

To ensure more valid, “apples to apples” comparisons of trends over time, Connecticut Voices recommends that state officials clarify the impact of the exclusion of students with disabilities when reporting on changes in CMT scores over time. Further, the organization suggests that policymakers:
· use a variety of indicators, not just standardized test scores, to evaluate improvements in public education; and
· reconsider policies that assign rewards and punishments based on these test scores.

Connecticut Voices is a research-based think tank that works to advance policies that benefit the state’s children, youth, and families. The report, “Addition through Subtraction: Are Rising Test Scores in Connecticut School Districts Related to the Exclusion of Students with Disabilities?,” can be found on the organization’s website at ctkidslink.org.

The report includes district-level data on 4th and 8th grade CMT scores, the percentage of local students who took the CMT and MAS, and a recalculation of district test scores that includes students with disabilities (see appendices F and G for local 2011 data).

The Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE), a coalition of leading civil rights and education advocacy organizations, is calling on President Obama to fully commit to investing in education reforms that are critical to the success of the country’s future workforce. Sustainable U.S. economic growth will require meaningful support of policies that ensure all of America’s students graduate high school prepared to drive innovation in critical sectors like manufacturing, health care, educational services, and alternative energy.

“We cannot afford to tolerate a climate in which the students of color, the very ones who will make up the bulk of the nation’s future workforce, have the least access to high-quality public education,” said Michael Wotorson, executive director of CHSE. “American companies cannot be expected to bring jobs back home, if our workforce is not prepared to claim them. President Obama’s recognition of the need to prioritize high school graduation rates is very encouraging. Still his administration must do more than the president revealed in the State of the Union address to lead essential education reforms that provide the strategic investment of the resources necessary to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed.”

CHSE’s Plan for Success is a blueprint for the administration and Congress that’s designed to ensure that America leads the world in educating its people. The Plan for Success provides a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to strengthen public schools, support effective teaching and offer every student a pathway to graduation and beyond. Specifically, the Plan for Success calls for policies that:

Make all students proficient and prepared for college and career;

Hold schools accountable for student success;

Provide students with the excellent leaders and teachers they need to succeed;

Invest communities in student success;

Provide equitable learning conditions for all students; and

Provide students with expanded learning opportunities.

CHSE is also calling for the meaningful engagement of communities of color to ensure that all students-including English language learners, and students with diverse learning needs, have access to the high-quality educational content and teachers who have been trained to effectively teach students from under-resourced communities by using methods that research demonstrates are essential to success in college and career.

“The current level of investment in public education is completely inadequate to meet the demands of a knowledge-based economy. If America is truly committed to building a strong and sustainable economy, then we must recognize that all of our students are the building blocks,” said Wotorson.

CHSE is a coalition of leading civil rights organizations representing communities of color that are- focused on high school education reform. Members include the National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, Alliance for Excellent Education, National Indian Education Association, and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.