By David BrownWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, April 26, 2007; Page A03
An experimental blood test for prostate cancer may help eliminate tens of thousands of unnecessary biopsies at the same time that it detects many tumors that are now missed by the test commonly used, its developers said yesterday.
PSA, the current test, measures a protein normally produced by the prostate, while the experimental one, called EPCA-2, detects a chemical made principally in cancerous tissue.
An experimental blood test for prostate cancer may help eliminate tens of thousands of unnecessary biopsies at the same time that it detects many tumors that are now missed by the test commonly used, its developers said yesterday.','David Brown') ;
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Prostate cancer, the most common malignancy in men, is one of the more perplexing areas of medicine. Physicians are unsure how to find it and when to treat it.
Today, about 80 percent of prostate biopsies find no tumor -- a percentage that is rising as physicians become more aggressive in searching for the disease.
"We hope this will minimize the number of unnecessary biopsies," said Robert H. Getzenberg, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital who developed the new test, which is still under study and not yet commercially available. A description of it appears today in the journal Urology.
"It's an exciting new marker," said Martin G. Sanda, a urologist at Harvard Medical School. "There certainly is a need for a better test than PSA. Everyone accepts that." His view was echoed by Gerald L. Andriole Jr., chief of urologic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, who said that "if the data hold up, this marker will be a substantial improvement over PSA."
The PSA test casts a net that is too big and too full of holes. Finding a replacement that catches fewer healthy men, but more of those who do have cancer, would help settle at least one of the clinical conundrums concerning prostate cancer.
The new test is being developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Onconome Inc., a Seattle-based biomedical company. It could become commercially available in 2008.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed in about 230,000 American men each year, and about 30,000 die of it. The death rate is 2.5 times higher among blacks than among whites.
At the moment, men are screened for the disease in two ways -- by a rectal exam and by the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. If a lump is detected or if the PSA is above 2.5 (nanograms per milliliter of plasma), most physicians will suggest a biopsy.
EPCA-2 is a protein that is part of the "nuclear matrix," the scaffolding inside a cell's nucleus that helps it copy its genes. The Hopkins researchers measured it in different groups of men whose cancer status was known.
They tried the new test on 30 men with PSA readings above 2.5 and in whom biopsies found no cancer. All had normal EPCA-2 readings (below 30 ng per ml.). This suggested that the test may eliminate many of the "false-positive" PSA results -- readings that are abnormal but apparently do not denote cancer.
On the other hand, the EPCA-2 test appears able to detect cancer even when the tumor is small. It identified 36 out of 40 men who had cancer confined to the prostate gland, and 39 out of 40 men in whom the tumor had spread. It also identified many men -- 14 out of 18 -- who had cancer but whose PSAs were normal.
This last group is especially worrisome to physicians. A study published three years ago found that about 12 percent of men with normal PSA readings have cancer.
The new test is not perfect, though. Getzenberg and his colleagues tried it on 35 men with severe "benign prostatic hypertrophy" -- enlargement of the prostate that sometimes makes the PSA go up but is not cancer. In eight of them, the EPCA-2 was high, suggesting that the EPCA-2 test would flag some men who turn out not to have cancer -- although probably not as many as the PSA test does.
The new test will not help solve the other major clinical uncertainty in prostate cancer. It is unclear who will clearly benefit from aggressive treatment and who are likely to be able to live a normal life if the tumors are simply followed and removed only if they begin to cause symptoms.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Call issued for better food safety net
By Stephen J. HedgesWashington BureauPublished April 25, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Michael Armstrong was mystified and scared. First his daughter Isabella, 5, and then her sister, Ashley, 2, developed stomach virus symptoms last September. But they did not go away, as kids' illnesses often do, and soon the Indianapolis man found himself taking his girls to the hospital.Isabella Armstrong, who was worse off, was eventually put on dialysis when her kidneys failed. Doctors finally determined that she had been stricken with E. coli contamination from spinach. Though Isabella is off dialysis now, there is a chance that she may need a kidney transplant.
"I don't know what the right answer is," Armstrong told a House hearing on food safety Tuesday, as he and his wife, Elizabeth, held their two daughters in their arms. "I know what the wrong answer is -- just keep doing what we're doing."The session was an attempt to explore whether the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies could be doing more to prevent outbreaks like ones that recently contaminated spinach, lettuce, peanut butter and pet food.While no FDA or Agriculture Department officials were present Tuesday, the subcommittee intends to call FDA witnesses in several weeks to discuss the contamination cases.Tuesday's hearings featured the families, as well as executives from companies that process and deliver the food that was found to be contaminated.
Among those executives were two at the heart of the pet food contamination scandal.Paul Henderson of Menu Foods of Canada, which makes pet food distributed under a number of labels, and Steve Miller of ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas, agreed that the tainting of pet food can be traced to a chemical called melamine. That ingredient, which is used to make plastics, was deliberately added to wheat gluten in China, they said.Melamine is high in nitrogen and artificially boosts the protein level of gluten during tests, they said, and the Chinese company selling it could charge more for the higher protein content.The FDA announced Tuesday that China, after weeks of refusals, has agreed to allow FDA inspectors into the plants involved in supplying the wheat gluten now in question.Agency officials also said that the contaminated pet food was sent as feed to hog farms in California, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and possibly Ohio. Urine of some of the hogs tested positive for melamine, according to the FDA.
Officials said they do not know whether any hogs had entered the human food supply but were still investigating."Food-borne illnesses and pet food contamination demonstrate serious flaws in our food safety net," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. "With more and more of our food, fruits and vegetables being imported, there appears to be less and less government inspection or oversight."The food executives testified that their companies took speedy steps to initiate recalls once it was clear that people were sick. But Stupak and others asked whether the FDA should have the authority to order recalls.
The agency now can only order recalls of baby formula. The executives said they would not oppose that authority.Armstrong and members of two other families told lawmakers how the simple act of serving and eating seemingly safe foods became a harrowing medical drama, one that left physical and emotional scars.Most difficult of all, they said, was just finding out what was happening to their loved ones. Doctors initially did not include E. coli and salmonella as causes, they said. The families themselves usually prompted the diagnosis after reading and hearing news reports of food recalls."I can't protect them from spinach," Armstrong said of his children. "Only you guys can."Terri Marshall of Louisiana testified how her mother-in-law, Mora Lou Marshall, was hospitalized Jan. 2. Mora Lou Marshall, 85, usually kept a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter next to her bed and would eat a spoonful to supplement her diet.ConAgra Foods Inc., which makes Peter Pan, issued a massive recall Feb. 14, a day after the FDA warned consumers not to eat certain jars of the product, made in a single Georgia plant.Today, Mora Lou Marshall is in a care facility, unable to eat normally. She is fed intravenously, Terri Marshall said.
WASHINGTON -- Michael Armstrong was mystified and scared. First his daughter Isabella, 5, and then her sister, Ashley, 2, developed stomach virus symptoms last September. But they did not go away, as kids' illnesses often do, and soon the Indianapolis man found himself taking his girls to the hospital.Isabella Armstrong, who was worse off, was eventually put on dialysis when her kidneys failed. Doctors finally determined that she had been stricken with E. coli contamination from spinach. Though Isabella is off dialysis now, there is a chance that she may need a kidney transplant.
"I don't know what the right answer is," Armstrong told a House hearing on food safety Tuesday, as he and his wife, Elizabeth, held their two daughters in their arms. "I know what the wrong answer is -- just keep doing what we're doing."The session was an attempt to explore whether the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies could be doing more to prevent outbreaks like ones that recently contaminated spinach, lettuce, peanut butter and pet food.While no FDA or Agriculture Department officials were present Tuesday, the subcommittee intends to call FDA witnesses in several weeks to discuss the contamination cases.Tuesday's hearings featured the families, as well as executives from companies that process and deliver the food that was found to be contaminated.
Among those executives were two at the heart of the pet food contamination scandal.Paul Henderson of Menu Foods of Canada, which makes pet food distributed under a number of labels, and Steve Miller of ChemNutra Inc. of Las Vegas, agreed that the tainting of pet food can be traced to a chemical called melamine. That ingredient, which is used to make plastics, was deliberately added to wheat gluten in China, they said.Melamine is high in nitrogen and artificially boosts the protein level of gluten during tests, they said, and the Chinese company selling it could charge more for the higher protein content.The FDA announced Tuesday that China, after weeks of refusals, has agreed to allow FDA inspectors into the plants involved in supplying the wheat gluten now in question.Agency officials also said that the contaminated pet food was sent as feed to hog farms in California, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and possibly Ohio. Urine of some of the hogs tested positive for melamine, according to the FDA.
Officials said they do not know whether any hogs had entered the human food supply but were still investigating."Food-borne illnesses and pet food contamination demonstrate serious flaws in our food safety net," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. "With more and more of our food, fruits and vegetables being imported, there appears to be less and less government inspection or oversight."The food executives testified that their companies took speedy steps to initiate recalls once it was clear that people were sick. But Stupak and others asked whether the FDA should have the authority to order recalls.
The agency now can only order recalls of baby formula. The executives said they would not oppose that authority.Armstrong and members of two other families told lawmakers how the simple act of serving and eating seemingly safe foods became a harrowing medical drama, one that left physical and emotional scars.Most difficult of all, they said, was just finding out what was happening to their loved ones. Doctors initially did not include E. coli and salmonella as causes, they said. The families themselves usually prompted the diagnosis after reading and hearing news reports of food recalls."I can't protect them from spinach," Armstrong said of his children. "Only you guys can."Terri Marshall of Louisiana testified how her mother-in-law, Mora Lou Marshall, was hospitalized Jan. 2. Mora Lou Marshall, 85, usually kept a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter next to her bed and would eat a spoonful to supplement her diet.ConAgra Foods Inc., which makes Peter Pan, issued a massive recall Feb. 14, a day after the FDA warned consumers not to eat certain jars of the product, made in a single Georgia plant.Today, Mora Lou Marshall is in a care facility, unable to eat normally. She is fed intravenously, Terri Marshall said.
Gene variants tied to progression of eye disease
Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in people over 60, but only some of the people who have the early or intermediate stages of the eye disease develop its more serious form, losing so much of their central vision that they can no longer drive or read.
Researchers led by Dr. Johanna M. Seddon of Tufts-New England Medical Center report in tomorrow’s Journal of the American Medical Association that people with variations in two common genes have a two- to four-times higher risk of developing advanced AMD. When combined with smoking and obesity, already known risk factors for advanced AMD, the gene variations pushed the risk of advanced AMD 19 times higher.
"We have shown how genetic variations do add to progression," Seddon said in an interview about the clinical trial, which followed 1,466 people for about six years. "Genetic factors, smoking and obesity are all independent factors related to progression of AMD and they seem to be additive."
But Seddon and her co-authors, who include Sarah George and Bernard Rosner of Harvard, say it's too early to call for genetic screening. Many, but not all, people with the gene variations progress to advanced AMD, but so do some people without the gene variation."The story is unfolding and we have a lot more to learn," Seddon said. "Genetic screening is premature at this point."
They do recommend that people exercise, eat a healthy diet and not smoke, based on previous work implicating the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease in AMD. Seddon showed in 1994 that diet is linked to AMD, and in 1996 that smoking is related.
Dr. Bruce P. Rosenthal of Lighthouse International, a non-profit organization established to help people with vision loss, said the study will be valuable as researchers continue to seek the root causes of the disease.
"While we have known for many years that smoking and being overweight contributes to the risk of macular degeneration, the findings of a genetic link for the progression of macular degeneration from early or intermediate stages to advanced disease are indeed significant and will have a major impact on future study and possible treatment of AMD," he said in a statement.
Rosenthal was not involved in the study, which was funded by the National Eye Institute and other grants.
Researchers led by Dr. Johanna M. Seddon of Tufts-New England Medical Center report in tomorrow’s Journal of the American Medical Association that people with variations in two common genes have a two- to four-times higher risk of developing advanced AMD. When combined with smoking and obesity, already known risk factors for advanced AMD, the gene variations pushed the risk of advanced AMD 19 times higher.
"We have shown how genetic variations do add to progression," Seddon said in an interview about the clinical trial, which followed 1,466 people for about six years. "Genetic factors, smoking and obesity are all independent factors related to progression of AMD and they seem to be additive."
But Seddon and her co-authors, who include Sarah George and Bernard Rosner of Harvard, say it's too early to call for genetic screening. Many, but not all, people with the gene variations progress to advanced AMD, but so do some people without the gene variation."The story is unfolding and we have a lot more to learn," Seddon said. "Genetic screening is premature at this point."
They do recommend that people exercise, eat a healthy diet and not smoke, based on previous work implicating the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease in AMD. Seddon showed in 1994 that diet is linked to AMD, and in 1996 that smoking is related.
Dr. Bruce P. Rosenthal of Lighthouse International, a non-profit organization established to help people with vision loss, said the study will be valuable as researchers continue to seek the root causes of the disease.
"While we have known for many years that smoking and being overweight contributes to the risk of macular degeneration, the findings of a genetic link for the progression of macular degeneration from early or intermediate stages to advanced disease are indeed significant and will have a major impact on future study and possible treatment of AMD," he said in a statement.
Rosenthal was not involved in the study, which was funded by the National Eye Institute and other grants.
Monday, April 23, 2007
FDA: Sugar Substitue does'nt cause cancer
7:46 p.m. ET April 20, 2007
A federal review of a 2005 Italian study found no data to support the conclusion the sugar substitute aspartame causes cancer, a health official said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration has not seen scientific information that would support a change in its conclusions about the safety of aspartame, said Laura Tarantino, director of the agency’s Office of Food Additive Safety. In 1981, the FDA determined that aspartame was safe for use in food.
The Italian study concluded aspartame led to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats. However, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the data and said it did not support the study’s conclusions. The European agency reiterated its previously held position that the low-calorie sweetener is sa
The FDA then conducted its own review of the study, despite not receiving additional data it had requested.“Our conclusion, based on a comprehensive review of all data we had, is there is no evidence that aspartame is a carcinogen or any evidence to change our previous conclusion: that aspartame, the way it is used, is safe,” Tarantino said. The agency plans to release its review shortly, she said.
Meanwhile, the Italian team is expected to release Monday the results of a further study of the sweetener.Aspartame has been sold for 25 years. It’s found in thousands of products, including sodas, chewing gum, dairy products and even some medicines. NutraSweet and Equal are popular brands.Tarantino said the FDA would seek more data from researchers depending on what they present Monday.
A federal review of a 2005 Italian study found no data to support the conclusion the sugar substitute aspartame causes cancer, a health official said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration has not seen scientific information that would support a change in its conclusions about the safety of aspartame, said Laura Tarantino, director of the agency’s Office of Food Additive Safety. In 1981, the FDA determined that aspartame was safe for use in food.
The Italian study concluded aspartame led to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats. However, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the data and said it did not support the study’s conclusions. The European agency reiterated its previously held position that the low-calorie sweetener is sa
The FDA then conducted its own review of the study, despite not receiving additional data it had requested.“Our conclusion, based on a comprehensive review of all data we had, is there is no evidence that aspartame is a carcinogen or any evidence to change our previous conclusion: that aspartame, the way it is used, is safe,” Tarantino said. The agency plans to release its review shortly, she said.
Meanwhile, the Italian team is expected to release Monday the results of a further study of the sweetener.Aspartame has been sold for 25 years. It’s found in thousands of products, including sodas, chewing gum, dairy products and even some medicines. NutraSweet and Equal are popular brands.Tarantino said the FDA would seek more data from researchers depending on what they present Monday.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
A fruity drink to good health
The next time you’re out for a drink, instead of going for your usual drink on the rocks or rum with coke, you might want to add a little fruity flavour to your drink.
In fact, you must. Leaving aside the tingling taste of a fruity cocktail, if researchers are to be believed, coloured fruits mixed with a little alcohol make for great antioxidants.
A study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture points out that among coloured fruits, the favoured one is strawberry, known for compounds that can protect against cancer, heart diseases and arthritis.
The addition of alcohol only boosts its antioxidant properties. The ideal drink would be a strawberry daiquiri. Now, we aren’t propagating the intake of alcohol, but some studies claim that alcohol, if taken in very moderate amounts, may actually be beneficial for one’s health.
Researchers from the Kasetsart University in Thailand and the US State Department of Agriculture Research Service stumbled upon this discovery while actually searching for effective ways of keeping fruits fresh during storage.
They found that treating strawberries with ethanol, a compound found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits, enhanced the fruit’s antioxidant capacity by a third, boosting its power to neutralise destructive molecules in the body called free radicals.
Incidentally, alcohol is also thought to be beneficial in reducing the risk of heart disease but only if intake is restricted to no more than one drink, consumed every second day.
However, some also argue that one’s drinking pattern is as important as total consumption of alcohol. But relying on alcohol to save you from cardiovascular disease might be a huge gamble.
Berries, both blackberries and strawberries, on the other hand contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins and people who eat more of these fruits are proven to have greater immunity to cancer, heart disease and even some neurological diseases.
Now who wouldn’t like to pop open that bottle of bubbly and sip a bit of the blackberry-crowned champagne cocktail, with lots of crushed ice please?
In fact, you must. Leaving aside the tingling taste of a fruity cocktail, if researchers are to be believed, coloured fruits mixed with a little alcohol make for great antioxidants.
A study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture points out that among coloured fruits, the favoured one is strawberry, known for compounds that can protect against cancer, heart diseases and arthritis.
The addition of alcohol only boosts its antioxidant properties. The ideal drink would be a strawberry daiquiri. Now, we aren’t propagating the intake of alcohol, but some studies claim that alcohol, if taken in very moderate amounts, may actually be beneficial for one’s health.
Researchers from the Kasetsart University in Thailand and the US State Department of Agriculture Research Service stumbled upon this discovery while actually searching for effective ways of keeping fruits fresh during storage.
They found that treating strawberries with ethanol, a compound found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits, enhanced the fruit’s antioxidant capacity by a third, boosting its power to neutralise destructive molecules in the body called free radicals.
Incidentally, alcohol is also thought to be beneficial in reducing the risk of heart disease but only if intake is restricted to no more than one drink, consumed every second day.
However, some also argue that one’s drinking pattern is as important as total consumption of alcohol. But relying on alcohol to save you from cardiovascular disease might be a huge gamble.
Berries, both blackberries and strawberries, on the other hand contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins and people who eat more of these fruits are proven to have greater immunity to cancer, heart disease and even some neurological diseases.
Now who wouldn’t like to pop open that bottle of bubbly and sip a bit of the blackberry-crowned champagne cocktail, with lots of crushed ice please?
Cut down on salt and lower your risk of heart disease
Medical Research News
Published: Sunday, 22-Apr-2007
Researchers in the U.S. say those people who significantly cut down on the amount of salt contained in their diet could reduce their chances of developing cardiovascular disease by as much as twenty five percent.
The scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston also say a reduction in salt intake could lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by up to a fifth. Dr. Nancy Cook and her colleagues studied more than 3,000 people who took part in a study of a low-salt diet and its effects on high blood pressure and found that those who were assigned to a low-salt diet had a lower risk of all kinds of cardiovascular disease even 10 to 15 years later.
They were also 20 percent less likely to have died than those assigned to a normal diet.
Cardiovascular disease is a group of diseases linked to the heart or arteries, for example a stroke or heart disease and there is already substantial research which demonstrates that cutting down on salt lowers blood pressure.
This latest research however has produced some of the strongest objective evidence yet that lowering the amount of salt in the diet reduces the long term risk of future cardiovascular disease.The researchers followed up participants included in two trials completed in the nineties conducted to examine the effect that reducing salt in the diet had on blood pressure.
At the outset all the participants had high-normal blood pressure (pre-hypertension) and were therefore at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
In the first Trial of Hypertension Prevention which was completed in 1990, 744 people took part; in the second trial, which ended in 1995, 2382 people took part.
In both trials participants reduced their sodium intake by approximately 25% - 35% in comparison to a control group who did not cut back on their salt intake.
The participants in the earlier trials provided detailed information about cardiovascular and other health problems and the researchers found that participants who had cut back on salt during the trials tended to stick to a lower salt diet compared to those who had been in the control group.
The researchers garnered information from 2415 (77.3%) participants, 200 of whom had reported some sort of cardiovascular problem and it was seen that the reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular problems as a result of the sodium reduction intervention was substantial.
The results showed that the pre-hypertensive individuals were 25% less likely to develop cardiovascular problems over the course of the 10-15 years post-trial and there was also a 20% lower mortality rate.
This risk reduction was clearly seen in each trial.
Dr. Cook's team say salt may affect artery and heart health in ways that go beyond blood pressure; they say sodium may make blood vessels less able to expand and contract and may toughen heart cells.They say their study provides unique evidence that lowering salt in the diet might prevent cardiovascular disease.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) which funded the study, says salt intake is clearly linked to high blood pressure and recommends that all Americans cut down on their sodium intake.
The NHLBI says in the U.S. today more than 65 million adults, one in three, have unacceptably high blood pressure, above levels of 140/90, and another 59 million have pre-hypertension - defined as blood pressure of 120/80 or above.
Experts say both the average U.S. and British diets contain far more than the 2,300 mg daily recommended salt intake.
Published: Sunday, 22-Apr-2007
Researchers in the U.S. say those people who significantly cut down on the amount of salt contained in their diet could reduce their chances of developing cardiovascular disease by as much as twenty five percent.
The scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston also say a reduction in salt intake could lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by up to a fifth. Dr. Nancy Cook and her colleagues studied more than 3,000 people who took part in a study of a low-salt diet and its effects on high blood pressure and found that those who were assigned to a low-salt diet had a lower risk of all kinds of cardiovascular disease even 10 to 15 years later.
They were also 20 percent less likely to have died than those assigned to a normal diet.
Cardiovascular disease is a group of diseases linked to the heart or arteries, for example a stroke or heart disease and there is already substantial research which demonstrates that cutting down on salt lowers blood pressure.
This latest research however has produced some of the strongest objective evidence yet that lowering the amount of salt in the diet reduces the long term risk of future cardiovascular disease.The researchers followed up participants included in two trials completed in the nineties conducted to examine the effect that reducing salt in the diet had on blood pressure.
At the outset all the participants had high-normal blood pressure (pre-hypertension) and were therefore at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
In the first Trial of Hypertension Prevention which was completed in 1990, 744 people took part; in the second trial, which ended in 1995, 2382 people took part.
In both trials participants reduced their sodium intake by approximately 25% - 35% in comparison to a control group who did not cut back on their salt intake.
The participants in the earlier trials provided detailed information about cardiovascular and other health problems and the researchers found that participants who had cut back on salt during the trials tended to stick to a lower salt diet compared to those who had been in the control group.
The researchers garnered information from 2415 (77.3%) participants, 200 of whom had reported some sort of cardiovascular problem and it was seen that the reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular problems as a result of the sodium reduction intervention was substantial.
The results showed that the pre-hypertensive individuals were 25% less likely to develop cardiovascular problems over the course of the 10-15 years post-trial and there was also a 20% lower mortality rate.
This risk reduction was clearly seen in each trial.
Dr. Cook's team say salt may affect artery and heart health in ways that go beyond blood pressure; they say sodium may make blood vessels less able to expand and contract and may toughen heart cells.They say their study provides unique evidence that lowering salt in the diet might prevent cardiovascular disease.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) which funded the study, says salt intake is clearly linked to high blood pressure and recommends that all Americans cut down on their sodium intake.
The NHLBI says in the U.S. today more than 65 million adults, one in three, have unacceptably high blood pressure, above levels of 140/90, and another 59 million have pre-hypertension - defined as blood pressure of 120/80 or above.
Experts say both the average U.S. and British diets contain far more than the 2,300 mg daily recommended salt intake.
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