Whenever I take my dog to the vet, I see several posters about how keeping your pet’s teeth clean and stopping gum disease are important for maintaining the overall health of the pet. Somehow the message has got through for pets but not for humans.

Recently there has been a greater appreciation of the fact that atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) diabetes and other chronic diseases have a strong inflammatory component. Long term constant inflammation is bad for us. It increases our risk of having health problems.

If you have gum disease periodontis, the gums are swollen and inflamed. This long term constant inflammation will have negative consequences for health.

The number of people who have periodontis (inflammation of the gum) is astonishingly high. It is estimated that 30-50 % of US adults have some form. Of course, for many it is quite mild, with gum problems progressing slowly. However, it is estimated that 1 in 10 adults have severe periodontis.

Several studies have all found the same result. Those with periodontis have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The increased risk includes atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, stroke and high blood pressure.

In fact, there has been a suggestion that those with moderate to severe periodontis should be evaluated for cardiovascular disease and if necessary given treatments to reduce their risk.

For both good dental and heart health it is important to both clean our teeth and floss regularly. Floss for a healthy heart.

photo credit: Bee Skutch

Technorati Tags: gum disease, periodontis, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, floss

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Clean Teeth And Flossing Are Good For Your Heart

Vinegar is made from many plants including fruits such as apple, barley, rice and wine. Different vinegars have diverse flavors. However, they all contain acetic acid, which is what the makes the vinegar acid, and gives it many of its properties.

Over the years, vinegar has been suggested to have many healthful effects. Some of these suggested positive effects on health have included fighting infections and detoxifying the body.

In most countries the sale of vinegar is not regulated, so there are huge variations between brands and types. The range of amount of acetic acid can be quite significant.

If large quantities of vinegar, or vinegars with high acetic acid content, are taken there can be negative health consequences. Vinegar can burn your throat, esophagus and stomach. Taking too much over a period of time can deplete your body of potassium in the body, increase the rate of osteoporosis and increased blood pressure.

In new research, mice were fed a high fat diet and some were given acetic acid. Those with acetic acid supplementation gained less body fat. Up to 10% less body fat!

The researchers suggest that acetic acid is acting on the liver, turning on genes that are involved in breaking down fat. If more fat is broken down, there is less to be taken up by fat cells. Therefore, there is less fat on the belly or other places.

So perhaps taking a sensible amount of vinegar every day may help with weight gain. However, exercise caution. Too much vinegar could have bad health effects such as those described above. More is not necessarily better.

photo credit: Andyrob

Technorati Tags: vinegar, body fat, weight gain, acetic acid

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Vinegar May Decrease Accumulation Of Body Fat

The age-related loss of muscle is called sarcopenia. This loss of muscle is slow at first, but then from the 40’, there is a more rapid loss of muscle. For more information see the post Dieters Lose Muscle If Not Exercising.

Sarcopenia can lead to problems for the elderly. Having weak muscles particularly in the legs can lead to a fall and that characteristic shuffling gait. With weak leg muscles, the feet are not lifted far enough off the ground. This increases the tendency to trip and fall since the feet can catch more easily. The fear of falling causes the gaze to be down, rather than ahead when walking, which besides reducing anticipation of problems ahead, makes you look old.

Exercising regularly will slow the loss of muscle and help maintain physical abilities much later in life.

Though exercising helps slow sarcopenia, it has been assumed that there is no way to reverse loss. Now there is research that suggests that there may be a way to, in part, reverse some of the loss.

The research looked at a growth factor called mechano growth factor, abbreviated to MGF. This growth factor is formed from the same gene as myotrophin, which has been investigated for use in increasing muscle mass, particularly in ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) with mixed results.

Mechano growth factor is made in muscle when they are stretched during exercise. It has been shown to cause satellite cells within the muscle (not fully developed “baby” muscle cells) to divide and fuse with muscle cells to repair them. It is the cycle of muscle damage and repair that results in increased muscle strength.

Now, it has been shown that elderly men who were given MGF, while in an exercise program had significantly increased muscle mass.

This suggests that there may be a way to partially reverse sarcopenia. If this turns out to be correct, there could be a huge impact on quality of life, with more confident walking and less falls. It could, also, result in reduced health care costs, both for hospitalization but also long term care.

photo credit: ~ggvic~

Technorati Tags: sarcopenia, mechano growth factor, MGF, myotrophin, muscle, satellite cells

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Can age-related muscle loss be reversed?

Teeth whitening kits, both home and professional, contain 6% hydrogen peroxide. It has been suggested that this strength of hydrogen peroxide is quite damaging to the surface of teeth.

The new technique looked at the surface of the teeth and estimated changes to the surface and hardness.

The researchers found that teeth whitening had little impact on the surface of the teeth, whereas orange juice slowly ate away at teeth. Therefore, over time regular drinking of orange juice could weaken teeth.

Sodas are also acidic and so may be having the same effect. Ditto for sports drinks and wine.

The length of time that teeth are in contact with acidic drinks is important. Sipping a drink exposes teeth to acid longer. So chug that drink!

A straw also helps protect teeth, since much of the drink bypasses the teeth.

Drinking water or eating cheese after an acidic drink helps reduce the acidic environment in the mouth. Anything that means I can eat more cheese is fine with me.

photo credit: chiszeo

Technorati Tags: orange juice, teeth whitening, teeth, acid drinks, cheese

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Orange juice is worse for your teeth than standard teeth whitening kits!

How old do you feel? And how old will you be when you reach old age?

The public’s views on age and aging are explored in a new national survey on aging from the Pew Research Center, explained in a story by my colleague Sarah Arnquist.

Most adults over age 50 feel at least 10 years younger than their actual age, the survey found. One-third of those between 65 and 74 said they felt 10 to 19 years younger, and one-sixth of people 75 and older said they felt 20 years younger.

And at what age does old age begin? Most people in the survey said old age starts at age 68. Are they kidding? That seems way too young to me. Not surprisingly, most people over 65 have a different idea about old age. Among those getting the senior citizen discount, most say old age begins at 75.

Now consider the answer given by people under 30. Most of them think you’re old by the time you hit 60, Ms. Arnquist reports.

Read the full story, “How Old Do You Feel? It Depends on Your Age.” Be sure to listen to the audio to the left that features people of various ages explaining how they define old age.
And then please join the discussion below. How old do you feel? And at what age do you think old age begins?

photo credit: AleBonvini

Technorati Tags: old age, aging, old

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How Old Is Old?

Well before the Adkins diet became popular, some research had suggested that eating a lot of high carb foods increased the risk of cardiac events.

New research suggests that this increased risk may in part be due to meals with high simple carbohydrate levels causing arteries to have reduced function for at least several hours after the meal.

The arteries in our blood system can get wider and narrower as required by the body. For instance, to lower blood pressure, the body can make arteries wider, increasing the volume,which then lowers the pressure. Think of water coming out of the hose. If you squeeze the end to make it a bit narrower the water would squirt out with a higher pressure.

If your arteries become less elastic, or become less able to contract the body cannot control things like blood pressure as well. Studies comparing people with normal body fat and obesity have shown that arteries are less elastic.

In the new study expansion of the brachial artery, the major blood vessel of the upper arm, was compared in study subjects who ate either one of two different types of a high carb meal, a low carb meal or got water. The three meals and water were rotated, so all subjects were analyzed after consuming all three meals and water. The artery function was reduced after eating, but not when just drinking water. The effect on arteries was much greater for the both the high meals, than for the high fiber meal.

This research is another piece of evidence that eating a high carb diet may not be the best for your health.

photo credit: saragoldsmith - Walkers potato chips (crisps) - even cajun squirrel flavour are high carb

Technorati Tags: high carb, artery, elastic, reduced function

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High Carb Foods Reduce Artery Function

Peak bone mass is at about 20 years. After this time everyone starts to lose bone mass. Some fast, some slow. Everybody will develop osteoporosis eventually. That is why I said “in your lifetime”.

Bone density is defined by T score. 1.0 or greater is normal. -1.0 to -2.5 is osteopenia (some bone loss). -2.5 and below is osteoporosis. Bone density is measured by DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry – try saying that quickly 5 times in a row).

One of the major determinants of keeping bones strong is weight bearing exercise. The more you stress bones the stronger they try to be. Bone is constantly being lost and made. More stress favors more bone being made.

This is where being heavy comes in. More weight means more impact on your bones and more stress. I am not advocating weight gain, but it is nice to have some positive reinforcement once in a while.

An alternative to weight is jumping-style activities. This mimics a higher body weight since gravity is being used.

I was surprised to read that the US Preventative Services Task Force, who I had never heard of before, recommended DEXA screening for women 60-64 years who weighed less than 70 kg (154 lbs) and all women over 65. I would have thought that preventative would mean younger.

DEXA just involves lying on table with no metal on your body, while your spin and hip are scanned. I had one about 5 years ago after destroying my hand, whacking it on the wall, trying to play squash. My doctor was convinced that to due to the significant damage that I did to the bones in my hand, I must have really low bone density. No. I just whacked it really hard, and eventually ended up having to have reconstructive surgery for tendon damage. The hand is now a bit knobbly and does not work quite as well as it did.

If you are depressed about your weight – remember there is one positive effect – stronger bones.

photo credit: bunnicula

Technorati Tags: osteoporosis, osteopenia, weight bearing, DEXA, bone, T score

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More Weight, Lower Risk Of Osteoporosis

The connection between mind and body is a key part of many ancient religions, and was generally accepted until relatively recently. The rise of the science and “rational thinking”, changed this. The dogma was that thoughts, emotions, etc., did not significantly impact body processes and had only a small role to play in disease.

The pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. Now, there is quite a bit of evidence that the mind does play a role in our health.

For instance, the role that stress plays in our health is now a major subject of research. Short-lived (acute) stress is usually good. It helps us respond to things that need an immediate response. It is the continual chronic stress that negatively affects the body.

A new study shows that those who had a high level of “dispositional energy”, have much lower levels of an inflammatory molecule called interleukin 6, shortened to IL6.

High dispositional energy is usually a characteristic of extroverts, and is active engagement with life. Dispositional energy has been called the life force. Other characteristics of extroverts such as being happy, and liking to be around other people did not affect the levels of IL6.

Since inflammation is a key player in a number of diseases including heart disease and diabetes, having a lower of inflammation lowers the risk of serious effects from these diseases. The new research suggests more dispositional energy, with less inflammation leads to a lower risk of inflammatory diseases.

There is a question that needs to be answered. If we all started to be more engaged and increase our dispositional energy will our risk having major heart disease or diabetes? Or do we need to have been born with high dispositional energy levels?

photo credit: quantumdtell

Technorati Tags: personality, dispositional energy, mind, body, inflammation, health

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Does Your Personality Have An Impact On Your Health?

If you use a DVD or go to a class to do exercise that involves abdominals, usually you are told repeatedly the same thing. “Pull in your tummy. Try to flatten or hollow out your abs. Try to flatten your back against the floor. “

The idea behind keeping the abs flat and the back against the floor is to work the deep abdominals. The idea is to work the transversus abdominis, since many years ago some research suggested that this muscle did not work properly in those who had back pain. Therefore, it was suggested that if these muscles were strengthened then back pain would be lessened or cured.

Now some researchers are suggesting that the original research may be flawed, or at least not universally applicable for all back pain.

Further, now many think that perhaps it is not just the deep abdominals that need working. They are suggesting that you need to work all the muscles round the core including the surface (superficial) muscles.

Others suggest that the flat tummy, lower back on the floor is actually bad for your spine. That this goes against the natural curve of the lower back and the muscles that hold the curves of the back.

Further some researchers suggest that sit-ups (crunches) are bad for your spine and that other exercises should be done to strengthen the core. So whether you should have a flattened tummy, or not, is irrelevant. The theory behind crunches being bad for you is that the spine flexes back for each crunch and this squeezes your spine in a way that is bad for it, if it is done repeatedly.

The NYT* has an article about the different points of view. There is also a short video in which 4 exercises that work the core are demonstrated. These 4 exercises do not involve sit-ups and were developed to work all the core muscle groups. I think the video is very interesting so check it out.

I am going to try the new exercises – tomorrow.

*You need to register to look at much of the content on the NYT website, however there are no strings attached to registering.

photo credit: rich115

Technorati Tags: abdominal exercises, sit-ups, crunches, flattened tummy, core, spine

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Are Sit-Ups Good For Abdominals and Spine?

Never thought about this before. My guess was that the ridges make us more sensitive to touch.

I heard an interview on the radio with a researcher who works on hands, claws etc. He has just published a paper that says that fingerprints do not improve our grip. The reverse is true, there is less friction so there is less grip.

In the experiments a graduate student had his fingers and thumbs attached to a machine that pressed his hand and dragged it against a Perspex sheet, and the amount of friction was measured. As the poor graduate student’s hand was pressed harder the level of friction on the skin did not increase as fast as expected.

Thinking about it, this makes sense. Having ridges on our fingers means that the whole surface is not in contact with something, but just the smaller area of the ridges.

The researcher suggested that the ridges protect our fingers from damage by not gripping so well. As he mentioned, areas that have a strong ridge pattern are more resistant to blisters than the flatter areas. For instance when doing things that involve friction and the skin on our hands,we are less likely to get blisters on our finger tips than smoother areas of the hand.

Other theories of why we have fingerprints are the sensitivity to touch, and something to do with channeling water away, so when are hands are wet we don’t lose so much grip.

Sometimes I find it amazing what we don’t know. Since skin is obvious and easily accessible for study, you would think we would know pretty much everything about it.

photo credit: Steve & Jemma Copley

Technorati Tags: fingerprint, grip, friction, skin

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Why Do We Have Fingerprints?