Think Yourself Thin, Plus More Hot Health News

Stop food cravings with your thoughts; lower blood pressure with a smoothie; find out which health supplements may be dangerous. Read all about the week’s vital health news...

1. Imagination could be the key to weight loss.
You can satisfy food cravings just by thinking about eating, an experiment described in the journal Science suggests.

Researchers asked a group of participants to imagine themselves slowly and purposefully eating 30 M&Ms, one at a time. Others were asked to imagine eating just a few of the candies, or none at all.

Afterward, when bowls of actual M&Ms were put in front of all the subjects, the first group ate only half as many as the others did.

The repeated imaginary eating resulted in “habituation” – a decreased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure – according to study leader Carey Morewedge, Ph.D., a professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Suppressing thoughts doesn’t work, Morewedge tells the Los Angeles Times. “A better way to deal with cravings might be to imagine indulging them.”

2. Protein powder lowers blood pressure.
Drinking whey-based protein shakes can significantly reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension, according to a Washington State University study published in the International Dairy Journal.

When students consumed fruit-flavored whey protein drinks daily, those with hypertension reduced their pressure by an average of six points. The drinks had no effect on those with normal blood pressure.

Whey, a cheese byproduct, is a high-quality yet relatively inexpensive protein source, nutritional biochemist and study leader Susan Fluegel, Ph.D., tells Lifescript.

“Most people aren’t aware of whey as a food. It’s not a glamorous, expensive protein like salmon,” Fluegel says. “Almost all whey protein supplements are either sold to athletes in supplements or bars, or to the elderly as premixed drinks to improve protein nutrition.”
Powdered whey protein supplements, which are available in many supermarkets and health food stores, can be added to smoothies, shakes or baked goods.

Fleugel’s personal favorite? “If you blend chocolate-flavored whey protein powder with milk, cocoa and raspberries, it tastes like a chocolate-raspberry shake.”

3. Mercury has been found in all packaged tuna.
Consumer Reports magazine recently tested 42 cans and pouches of tuna, from a variety of brands, and found “measurable levels of mercury" in each one.

The amounts varied widely. In general, “light” versions had less of the toxic metal than more expensive “white” (albacore) tuna – an average of .071 parts per million, versus .427 parts per million.

Products containing 1 part per million of mercury or more can be taken off the market by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

By that measure, 2.5 ounces of packaged white tuna – about the amount in a single-serving can – could contain more than the daily mercury intake considered safe.

Mercury consumption is especially risky for women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children. It accumulates in tuna and other fish as methylmercury, which has been shown to damage nerves and nerve tissue.

Many doctors recommend that pregnant women avoid tuna entirely, or eat at most one serving per week.

4. FDA warns of drugs in weight-loss supplements.
The FDA sent a letter to the supplement industry stating that manufacturers whose products are dishonestly labeled could be liable for criminal prosecution.

According to the federal agency, it has discovered dozens of weight-loss products containing sibutramine, the active ingredient in the drug Meridia – which was withdrawn from the market due to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Some bodybuilding products contain anabolic steroids or similar “steroid analogs,” which can cause liver injury and increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death, the FDA warned.
And some male sexual-enhancement products contain the same active ingredients as FDA-approved drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra – all of which are available by prescription only. These could be dangerous to men with certain medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease.

“Consumers should avoid products marketed as supplements that claim to have effects similar to prescription drugs,” says Michael Levy, director of the Division of New Drugs and Labeling Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

5. Ovarian cancer screening only slightly reduces death rate.
A study published this week in the journal Cancer found that currently available screening methods for ovarian cancer only slightly reduce the number of women who die from the disease.

“If we assume ovarian cancers grow and spread at different rates, the best screening strategy available will only reduce the number of women dying from the cancer by 11%,” writes lead author Laura Havrilesky, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University.

Many ovarian tumors produce no symptoms until the disease is advanced, at which point the cancer often spreads quickly, Havrilesky says.

The best currently available screening technology for ovarian cancer is a blood test for CA 125, a protein found in greater concentration in tumor cells than normal body cells.

The study’s authors suggest that because effective screening is so difficult, researchers should focus on prevention and treatment.

6. Company fined for yogurt claims.
The Dannon Company has agreed pay a $21 million fine to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges of deceptive advertising, based on claims that allegedly exaggerate the health benefits of Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink.

According to the FTC complaint, commercials for Activia – which feature actress Jamie Lee Curtis – state that one daily serving can relieve irregularity, while DanActive ads say the drink can help people avoid catching colds or the flu.
The FTC charged that Dannon’s claims are unsubstantiated – and, in fact, clinically proven false.

Activia and DanActive both contain beneficial gut bacteria known as probiotics. Under the proposed settlement, Dannon can’t make health-related claims about Activia, DanActive or any other “yogurt, dairy drink or probiotic food or drink unless the claims are true and backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence.”

For its part, Dannon maintained that it has never marketed DanActive as a cold or flu remedy, and said it would make clear that Activia’s irregularity benefits come from three servings per day.

7. Chronic fatigue patients may be barred from donating blood.
Reacting to studies suggesting that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is linked to a virus, an FDA advisory panel has recommended that potential blood donors be asked if they have a history of it. If the answer is “yes,” they shouldn’t be allowed to donate.

A retrovirus, XMRV, was connected to CFS in a paper published in the journal Science in 2009. (First identified in 2006, XMRV has been implicated in an increased risk of prostate cancer.) The National Cancer Institute study found XMRV in two-thirds of CFS sufferers.

A later study didn’t find XMRV, but confirmed the presence of genetically similar viruses in most patients.

Although the retrovirus hasn’t been shown to spread through blood transfusions, the FDA says it might still happen, since the virus has been found in some blood cells.

Earlier this month, the American Red Cross announced it would stop accepting donations from individuals diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. The AABB (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks) has recommended that potential blood donors who’ve been diagnosed with chronic fatigue be discouraged from donating until more conclusive data is available.

8. More evidence fish oil fights depression.
The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil could be a viable depression treatment, either combined with medication or on their own, according to new University of Illinois research.
But there’s a catch: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a particular type of fatty acid, must be used in the correct ratio with another fatty acid, EPA (eicosapentenoic acid), for supplements to beat the blues.

DHA has long been considered important to brain development, but the study found that supplements must also contain EPA to have antidepressant properties.

The study’s main author, psychiatry professor John Davis, M.D., recommended taking fish oil with relatively equal amounts of DHA and EPA, but said additional tests were needed to further document its effectiveness and establish a dose range.

The researchers cautioned that the study is considered preliminary. Depression is a serious illness, and anyone who has it should be treated by a doctor or mental-health professional.

9. “Good” cholesterol may reduce Alzheimer’s risk.
Higher levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol might help prevent Alzheimer’s disease in older people, according to a Columbia University study.

People with low levels of HDL, which helps transport cholesterol out of the arteries, had a 60% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s after age 65 than those with high levels.

Losing weight, doing aerobic exercise and eating a healthy diet can increase HDL levels, says study author Christiane Reitz, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of neurology.

Other ways include stopping smoking, cutting back on trans-fats, and eating more foods high in monounsaturated fats – such as vegetable oil, avocados, peanut butter and nuts.

10. Painkillers raise risk of fractures and heart attacks.
Older arthritis patients taking Oxycontin and similar painkillers – a classification of drugs known as opioids – have an increased risk of bone fracture and heart attack, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Participants taking the drugs were 4.5 times more likely to suffer a fracture than those on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen. The reason for this was unclear, but researchers theorized that patients on opioids might be more inclined toward dizziness and falls.
They were also more than twice as likely to have a heart attack than those on either NSAIDs or COX-2 inhibitors – a surprising finding since COX-2 inhibitors themselves have been linked with heart-related side effects.

Opioids are sometimes prescribed because long-term NSAID use can lead to gastrointestinal problems. But while they should still be prescribed for arthritis sufferers, the new research reveals that they carry more risk than was originally thought, notes lead study author Daniel H. Solomon, M.D., a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Are You on the Road to a Heart Attack?
Every 20 seconds, a heart attack occurs somewhere in the United States. Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in this country, contributes to the 1.5 million heart attacks that occur each year. Will you become a part of this statistic?