Eczema Free Forever™ Eczema Free Forever™

Link between cancer and obesity higher in women

As someone who has recently lost weight (22 pounds or 9.7kg in new money) I was interested to read a recent study published in The Lancet.

A recent cancer diagnosis within my family made me stop and think. I’m middle-aged and clearly I wasn’t doing myself any favours by being overweight, potentially storing up problems for later in life. And I felt pretty miserable actually as I knew I owed it to myself to look and feel better. I still have a bit of weight I’d like to lose, but the difference the weight loss has made is not to be under-estimated.

The study in The Lancet shows a clear link between obesity and cancer. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their report on cancer and obesity last week. It highlights that cancers associated with being overweight and obese, including thyroid, liver, kidney, and ovarian cancer, account for 40% of cancers diagnosed in the USA, with over 630,000 diagnoses in 2014 alone.

The study looked at data from the United States Cancer Statistics for 2005-2014. Disparities between sexes in the rates of cancers associated with obesity are especially frightening, with 55% of all cancers diagnosed in women being associated with overweight and obesity, compared with only 24% of cancers in men.

And, the likelihood is that these trends will be similar in the UK so we need to take note.

Losing weight isn’t easy and it takes time. And as well as losing the weight it’s important to eat a healthy, low calorie diet, get plenty of sleep and exercise. It has to be approached holistically. There are also some great apps out there to help you monitor your food intake, weight loss, sleep and exercise.

But, before embarking on any changes in nutrition and exercise, it is advisable to see your GP.

For more information about this study and the link between cancer and obesity, click here

talkhealth Blog

Next stage of world-leading childhood obesity plan announced

Publich Health England (PHE) are now considering the evidence on children’s calorie consumption and are setting the ambition for the calorie reduction programme to remove excess calories from the foods children consume the most. These foods include pizzas, burgers, ready meals and savoury snacks and sandwiches.

Over the past year or so, there has been progress around reducing the level of sugar in many products.

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy has become law, coming into effect in April 2018 and PHE has formulated a comprehensive sugar reduction programme with the aim of a 20% reduction in sugar in key foods by 2020. Leading retailers and manufacturers have also announced they are, or already have, lowered the amount of sugar in their products as a result of these programmes.

Adults currently consume on average between 200 to 300 calories too many each day and children are following suit which is concerning. Reducing calorie consumption from sources other than sugar is critical to reversing the worrying obesity trend.

  • 1 in 3 children are either overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school
  • more children in the UK than previously are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, some as young as 7
  • children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be obes

Philip Dunne, Minister of State for Health said:

“Too many of our children are growing up obese, which can lead to serious health complications. We all have a responsibility to help people live healthier lives, but with a third of children leaving primary school obese we must take a comprehensive approach and now focus on excess calories.

This can only be done through strong guidance, grounded in evidence – that’s why we have funded a new £5 million dedicated Obesity Research Policy Unit to understand the deeper causes of obesity.”

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, said:

“A third of children leave primary school overweight or obese and an excess of calories – not just excess sugar consumption – is the root cause of this.

We will work with the food companies and retailers to tackle this as the next critical step in combating our childhood obesity problem.”

Evidence will be published by PHE early in 2018. It will then consult with the food industry, trade bodies and health non-governmental organisations to develop guidance and timelines for the calorie reduction programme.

The Department of Health has also funded the £5 million National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Obesity Research Policy Unit at University College London (UCL), which will look to develop a deeper understanding on the causes of childhood obesity, including marketing to children and families, social inequalities, and the early years of childhood.

Professor Russell Viner, Policy Research Unit Director and Professor of Adolescent Health, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said:

Obesity is one of the greatest health concerns of our time and we welcome this considerable and very timely investment from the government. We are delighted that the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health will host the new Obesity Policy Research Unit (OPRU). Preventing obesity in early life is key to turning the tide on this modern epidemic.”

 

talkhealth Blog

Many Parasitic Worms Offer Host Benefits: Research Has Potential To Treat Obesity, Psoriasis

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;??Eczema / Psoriasis
Article Date: 10 Jan 2013 – 0:00 PST Current ratings for:
Many Parasitic Worms Offer Host Benefits: Research Has Potential To Treat Obesity, Psoriasis
3 and a half starsnot yet rated
On the list of undesirable medical conditions, a parasitic worm infection surely ranks fairly high. Although modern pharmaceuticals have made them less of a threat in some areas, these organisms are still a major cause of disease and disability throughout much of the developing world.

But parasites are not all bad, according to new research by a team of scientists now at the University of Georgia, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Universite Francois Rabelais in Tours, France, and the Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.


A study published recently in Nature Medicine demonstrates that once inside a host, many parasitic worms secrete a sugar-based anti-inflammatory molecule that might actually help treat metabolic disorders associated with obesity.


The sugar molecule, or glycan, is released by parasites to help them evade the body’s immune system. By reducing inflammation, they are better able to hide in tissues, and humans experience fewer symptoms that might reveal their presence. http://www.eczemablog.net/


“Obesity is an inflammatory disease, so we hypothesized that this sugar might have some effect on complications related to it,” said Donald Harn, study co-author who worked on the research while at Harvard School of Public Health and is now Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Infectious Diseases.


The researchers tested their hypothesis on mice fed a high-fat diet. Those in the control group exhibited many of the symptoms associated with excessive weight gain, such as insulin resistance, high triglycerides and high cholesterol.


Mice that received treatment with the sugar still gained weight, but they did not suffer the same negative health effects as those in the control.


“All of the metabolic indicators associated with obesity were restored to normal by giving these mice this sugar conjugate,” said Harn, who is also a member of UGA’s Faculty of Infectious Diseases and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. “It won’t prevent obesity, but it will help alleviate some of the problems caused by it.”


The same sugars excreted by the parasites are also found in the developing human fetus and in human breast milk, which Harn suspects may establish proper metabolic functions in the newborn infant. Beyond infancy, however, sugar expression is only found on a few cells, and the only external source for the sugar is parasitic worms.


Because parasites co-evolved with mammals over millions of years, some scientists believe that the relationship between humans and worms is more symbiotic than parasitic, and that small worm infections might actually have some benefits.


“Prevalence of inflammation-based diseases is extremely low in countries where people are commonly infected with worms,” Harn said. “But the minute you start deworming people, it doesn’t take too long for these autoimmune diseases to pop up.”


This doesn’t mean that people should actively seek out parasitic infections as treatment, he said. But it is an indication that the compounds secreted by worms may serve as the basis for future therapies.


In addition to obesity-related disease, Harn and his colleagues have demonstrated that the sugar molecule released by parasites may alleviate a number of other serious inflammatory medical conditions.


It may work as a treatment for psoriasis, a disease that causes skin redness and irritation. The sugar also appears to serve as a powerful anti-rejection drug that may one day be used in patients who have received organ transplants. And it has been shown to halt or even reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis in mice.


More research is needed before this sugar molecule can be tested in humans, but Harn and his colleagues are hopeful that they can create effective treatments that provide all the benefits of parasitic worms without the worms themselves.


“We see great promise in this sugar, and we hope that future research and collaborations will eventually lead to marketable therapies for people suffering from disease,” he said.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click ‘references’ tab above for source.
Visit our obesity / weight loss / fitness section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

University of Georgia. “Many Parasitic Worms Offer Host Benefits: Research Has Potential To Treat Obesity, Psoriasis.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 10 Jan. 2013. Web.
7 Apr. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.


‘Many Parasitic Worms Offer Host Benefits: Research Has Potential To Treat Obesity, Psoriasis’

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.


If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.


All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)


Contact Our News Editors


For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:


Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.



View the original article here


Eczema Blog