Epilepsy Medications May Accelerate Atherosclerosis

Long-Term Treatment With Epilepsy Medications May Accelerate Atherosclerosis.

MedPage Today (11/18, Pal) reports, "The duration of anti-epileptic monotherapy was associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, although individual drugs had different underlying mechanisms in epilepsy patients, according to a single-center study" published online Nov. 15 in Epilepsia. The researchers looked at epileptic patients taking four different older generation anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). They were carbamazepine (CBZ) and phenytoin (PHT), valproic acid (VPA), and lamotrigine (LTG, Lamictal). The researchers found that "common carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) in patients with epilepsy seemed to be positively correlated with the duration of AED therapy." However, no significant correlation was found with common carotid IMT and anti-epileptic treatment with LTG. The investigators said, "The results offer some guidelines to clinicians on choosing the best AED drug for a patient based on their vascular risk factors and age." 

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For more information on managing cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, or general health issues, please contact Dr. Gregory Cohen, Medical Director at Westside Preventive Medicine. 


Dr. Cohen is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist in Los Angeles. 


Our patients come not only from Los Angeles, but frequently from Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Hollywood, the Valley and even as far as Glendale and Pasadena. They all come for our compassionate, "whole-person" approach to medicine. 


To book an appointment, call us at 310-231-9500, or go online to our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D Deficiency May Be Linked To Damaging Vascular Effects In Children.

MedPage Today reports, "Vitamin D deficiency may have damaging vascular effects in children with a high cardiovascular risk," according to a study presented at the American Heart Association meeting. Researchers found, "at a clinic for high-risk children and teens," that "those who had a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D) level less than 20 ng/mL had a significant reduction in carotid artery distensibility," although "the deficient children did not...have a higher average carotid artery intima-media thickness."

www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

For more information on nutrition, vitamins, vaccines, managing cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, or general health issues, please contact Dr. Gregory Cohen, Medical Director at Westside Preventive Medicine. 


Dr. Cohen is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist in Los Angeles. 


Our patients come not only from Los Angeles, but frequently from Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Hollywood, the Valley and even as far as Glendale and Pasadena. They all come for our compassionate, "whole-person" approach to medicine. 


To book an appointment, call us at 310-231-9500, or go online to our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

Pros, Cons Of Moderate Alcohol Consumption

Article Examines Pros, Cons Of Moderate Alcohol Consumption.

The Los Angeles Times (11/21, Adams) discusses the pros and cons of alcohol consumption, noting that evidence suggests that having heavy drinking "had long been known to raise the risk of breast cancer" by "increasing the amount of estrogen and related hormones." However, moderate alcohol intake is linked to a larger "drop in risk for heart disease" than the accompanying rise "in risk for breast cancer." Since women have "a higher lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease than breast cancer," it is difficult to make a "blanket recommendation for women who are trying to balance a breast cancer risk against cardiovascular benefits." Other benefits to moderate drinking may be "lower rates of diabetes, dementia, arthritis, enlarged prostate, osteoporosis, gall bladder disease, and even some cancers, such as those of the kidney and thyroid."

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Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day to Protect the Kidneys

The old story about drinking eight glasses of water a day for overall health has been a topic for debate.

But research over the years has suggested that drinking extra water helps the kidneys clear sodium, urea and toxins from the body. And in the past year, two large studies found a lower risk of long-term kidney problems among people who drink more water and other fluids daily.

In a report published in the journal Nephrology in March, researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia and elsewhere followed more than 2,400 people older than 50. Those who drank the most fluids, about three liters daily, had a "significantly lower risk" of chronic kidney disease than those who drank the least.

And in a study published last month in The Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Canadian scientists followed 2,148 healthy men and women, average age 46, for seven years. They looked at markers of kidney function and health and used urine volume to determine how much fluid the subjects drank daily. After controlling for diabetes, smoking, medication and other factors, they found that those who had the highest urine volume — in other words, those who drank the most fluids  were least susceptible to declines in kidney function.

The findings, the authors said, do not support “aggressive fluid loading,” which can cause side effects. But they do provide evidence that moderately increased fluid intake, above two liters daily, “may in fact benefit the kidney.”

“Believe it or not, there now does seem to be some merit and evidence to support the ‘myth’ that eight large glasses of fluid a day is good for your kidneys,” said Dr. William Clark, an author of the study and a nephrologist at the London Health Sciences Center in Ontario.

THE BOTTOM LINE
A moderately increased intake of fluids may protect the kidneys.

If you would like more information, please call the office of Dr. Gregory Cohen at Westside Preventive Medicine at 310-231-9500 for an appointment, or visit our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

Sugary Drinks May Increase Heart, Diabetes Risk In Women, Even Of Normal Weight

Women who drink two or more sugary drinks a day, even if they are of normal weight, appear to be at higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to a new study presented to the American Heart Association's (AHA's) Scientific Sessions 2011.

Sugar-sweetened drinks includes beverages such as carbonated sodas or flavored waters with added sugar.

Previous studies have examined and found links between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity, high blood fats, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. But studies following large, ethnically diverse populations looking at links with cardiovascular risk factors are sparse, said the researchers.

Lead author Dr. Christina Shay, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City and colleagues, compared middle-aged and older women who consumed two or more sugar-sweetened drinks to women who drank one or less a day.

They found that women who drank two or more such drinks a day were significantly more likely to develop larger waists and have impaired fasting levels of glucose. They were also nearly four times as likely to develop high triglycerides, a type of blood fat linked to increased risk of heart disease.

Dr. Shay said: "Women who drank more than two sugar-sweetened drinks a day had increasing waist sizes, but weren't necessarily gaining weight. These women also developed high triglycerides, and women with normal blood glucose levels more frequently went from having a low risk to a high risk of developing diabetes over time."

"Most people assume that individuals who consume a lot of sugar-sweetened drinks have an increase in obesity, which in turn, increases their risk for heart disease and diabetes. Although this does occur, this study showed that risk factors for heart disease and stroke developed even when the women didn't gain weight," she added.

For the study, Shay and colleagues examined data from 4,166 African-American, Caucasian, Chinese-Americans and Hispanic adults who took part in the the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The participants, aged from 45 to 84 years, had completed food-frequency questionnaires when the study started in 2000-2002.

During five years of follow-up, the participants underwent three exams from which the researchers were able to assess changes in body weight, waist size, levels of high density lipoproteins (HDL "good" cholesterol), levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL "bad" cholesterol), triglycerides, levels of fasting glucose, and presence of type 2 diabetes.

The study was conducted at Northwestern University's Department of Preventive Medicine in Chicago.

But exactly how such drinks influence cardiovascular risk, what biological mechanisms might be involved, is still somewhat unclear and warrants further investigation, said the researchers, who are planning to do just that.

Funds from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute helped pay for the study.

If you would like more information, please call the office of Dr. Gregory Cohen at Westside Preventive Medicine at 310-231-9500 for an appointment, or visit our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com 

Eating Fish Can Reduce Risk of Diabetes

A recent study analysis of the dietary patterns of the adult Spanish population with high cardiovascular risk, revealed a high consumption of both red meat and fish. However, while eating lots of cured meats is associated with greater weight gain and a higher obesity rate, the consumption of fish is linked to lower glucose concentrations and a smaller risk of developing diabetes.

Mercedes Sotos Prieto, lead author of the study which forms part of the Predimed study (Prevention with a Mediterranean Diet) and researcher at the University of Valencia explains how in Mediterranean countries, consumption of foods that typically form part of the diet has decreased in recent decades. The consumption of saturated fats mainly from red meats and industrial baking has increased and this is really worrying.

Conducted in the Valencian Community on 945 people (340 men and 605 women) between 55 and 80 years of age and with a high cardiovascular risk, the aim of the study was to understand dietary patterns in terms of meat and fish consumption. It also sought to understand the correlation between the Mediterranean diet and its association with cardiovascular risk factors. The results were published in the Nutrición Hospitalaria journal and show that the studied Mediterranean population eat a large amount of red meat and fish. However, the consumption of fish is associated with a decreased prevalence of diabetes and lower glucose concentrations whereas the consumption of red meat, especially cured meats is related to increased weight gain and obesity.

The researcher points out that "the red meat consumption of the sample population reaches an average of once a day, which is high in comparison to dietary recommendations. This could be influenced by many weight-loss diets which recommend eating grilled veal."

Eating red meat in excess is linked to higher cardiovascular risk, higher blood pressure, diabetes and a moderate decrease in life expectancy mainly due to cancer and heart disease. In contrast, fish appears in the Mediterranean diet and has health benefits for the heart.

Despite being a cross-sectional study that does not determine a causal effect, its authors confirm that there are many similar studies where the consumption of fish, both white and, even more so oily fish, is associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes type 2. "Various hypotheses have been put forward that attempt to explain why the consumption of fish can be related to diabetes," they explain. "The increase of omega-3 in the cells of the skeletal muscles improves insulin sensitivity."

"It is important to understand the dietary patterns of the Spanish population in order to learn whether dietary habits are changing. We should therefore strengthen dietary education," outlines Mercedes Sotos Prieto, who goes on to say that "we ought to establish dietary intervention programmes so that we do not stray from the Mediterranean diet. In other words, such a diet involves decreasing the amount of red meat that we eat and maintaining equal levels of fish consumption."

The bottom line: Eat fish... it's good for you!


If you would like more information, please call the office of Dr. Gregory Cohen at Westside Preventive Medicine at 310-231-9500 for an appointment, or visit our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

For more information on managing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or general health issues, please contact Dr. Gregory Cohen, Medical Director at Westside Preventive Medicine. 


Dr. Cohen is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist in Los Angeles. 


Our patients come not only from Los Angeles, but frequently from Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Hollywood, the Valley and even as far as Glendale and Pasadena. They all come for our compassionate, "whole-person" approach to medicine. 


To book an appointment, call us at 310-231-9500, or go online to our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

7 Facts That Can Save Your Life

Are You Aware That These Life-Threatening Conditions Can Usually Be
Prevented With A Simple, Painless, Low-Cost Test?

Cardiac Disease

1. Premature coronary artery disease can be detected using a 10-minute heart scan that costs less than $300.00.

2. A simple blood test can determine if you have an increased risk for coronary artery disease and stroke.

Breast Cancer

3. In a select group of women, a simple genetic test can identify those with a greater than 50% lifetime chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

4. New radiological tests have a better chance of detecting breast cancer earlier and more accurately than mammography in certain groups of women.

Colon Cancer

5. Using recommended screening procedures at age 50, or younger in higher risk patients, if caught early colon cancer is highly treatable. Nobody should die of colon cancer. This test is approved and paid for by Medicare.

Abdominal Aneurysm

6. Current guidelines recommend one time routine screening using ultrasound for patients over 65 years old who have a history of smoking.  This is approved and paid for by Medicare.

Vaccinations

7. It is estimated that less than 3% of adults in the United States have received the recommended vaccinations by the Centers of Disease Control.


If you would like more information, please call Westside Preventive Medicine at 310-231-9500 for an appointment, or visit our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com

For more information on maintaining a healthy life, preventing or lowering risk factors for many diseases, testing for specific conditions, managing cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, or general health issues, please contact Dr. Gregory Cohen, Medical Director at Westside Preventive Medicine. 


Dr. Cohen is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist in Los Angeles. 


Our patients come not only from Los Angeles, but frequently from Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Hollywood, the Valley and even as far as Glendale and Pasadena. They all come for our compassionate, "whole-person" approach to medicine. 


To book an appointment, call us at 310-231-9500, or go online to our website at www.westsidepreventivemedicine.com