CCH Health Review
Ideas & Strategies to Improve Your Health
August 2004
Back to School - Nutrition for Kids
Up to 20% of Drugs May Cause Unexpected Problems
Back to School - Nutrition for Kids
As you prepare to send your children back to school, there are many things you may be thinking of: new clothes, schoolbooks, and lunch boxes. Another thing you can think about is their nutrition. A healthy diet and supportive nutritional supplements can help give kids what they need to be their best during the school year and beyond.
Let's face it: few kids eat the perfect diet. Families are in a hurry and kids are picky, so they often rely on quick, packed foods, fast foods or treats. Some kids also skip meals, which is bad for their health.
In the snack department, here are some healthy ideas:
- Whole grain crackers - can be eaten with cheese or unsweetened natural peanut butter or almond butter.
- Baked corn chips - excellent with salsa or guacamole. Low in fat, high in fiber.
- Air-popped popcorn.
- Fresh fruit - try things other than bananas and apples such as berries, melon, plums, nectarines, kiwis, mango, papaya, pineapple or star fruit.
- Sliced veggies - carrots, celery, bell pepper and cucumber. Most markets even sell them pre-sliced to make this easy.
- Whole-grain cereals - great for breakfast, but can also be eaten dry as snacks.
- String cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt -- look for small individual packets that are easy for kids to grab and eat. Find yogurt with real fruit but minus the added sugar or artificial sweeteners.
- Real juice and flavored waters - make sure it's 100% juice and that the flavored waters are unsweetened. Try replacing soft drinks with a mix of 1/4 juice and plain carbonated water.
- Eggs - great for breakfast, but you can also keep some hard-boiled for snacks.
- Cans of low-sodium vegetable soup - can be a snack or a meal.
- Nuts and seeds such as walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds - they should be raw or toasted without added salt, sugar or oil.
Up to 20% of Drugs May Cause Unexpected Problems
Up to one fifth of all new prescription drugs may ultimately be recalled or produce potentially harmful side effects, a recent study concludes.
"The safety of new agents cannot be known with certainty until a drug has been on the market for many years," according to the lead researcher.
The study results are based on an evaluation of the 548 drugs that were first marketed between 1975 and 1999. The researchers looked up all drug recalls and scanned the Physician's Desk Reference, a commonly used source of drug information, for new warnings on side effects. During the study period, 10% of new drugs either received new warnings or were withdrawn, with half of those developments occurring within 7 years after the drug first appeared on the market. Based on these results, it was calculated that a new drug has a 20% chance of being withdrawn or producing previously unknown side effects over a 25-year period.
Side effects from new drugs can have a widespread impact. Almost 20 million Americans took one or more of the five drugs that were withdrawn between September 1997 and September 1998.
They found that 56 of 548 new drugs approved by the agency during the 25-year period were later subjected to so-called "black box" safety warnings or banned from the market altogether. FDA uses "black box" warnings on drug labels to warn physicians of potentially dangerous side effects or drug interactions.
In some cases, those side effects can be deadly: Since 1993, seven drugs that were approved (then later withdrawn) may have contributed to over 1,000 deaths.
A total of 81 major label changes or drug withdrawals occurred during the study period.
Several high-profile drugs have been pulled from the market by regulators over the last few years. One drug, the antihistamine terfenadine (Seldane), spent nearly 13 years on the market before being banned in 1998. Another, the gastrointestinal drug cisapride, was available for over 6 years. Both drugs were pulled because researchers discovered high rates of heart toxicity associated with their use.
The researchers believe that fewer than 1 in 10 adverse drug reactions are reported to the FDA. New drugs may be causing more harm than this study illustrates. "Our study is definitely an underestimate of what is going on," Dr. Karen E. Lasser said. Drugs that are withdrawn or cause previously unknown side effects after being approved were clearly not properly evaluated, she said.
If you are on medications, or plan to take a new one, we advise you to consult with one of our physicians. We have an array of alternative therapies that you may be able to utilize to achieve the same result as a drug, but without the side effects.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:2215-2220, 2273-2275
Exercise May Reverse Heart Disease in Fat Kids
Our children are getting fatter, and even toddlers are showing early signs of heart disease such as high cholesterol and the beginnings of clogged arteries. But several researchers told a recent meeting of the American Heart Association that parents can safely do something about it.
Daniel Green of the University of Western Australia tested 35 obese children aged 6 to 16. He used a test of vascular endothelial function that looks at the inside of the blood vessels. This is a test that detects the first development of atherosclerosis. Many of the children already had unusual signs, suggesting that they were in the early stages of arterial disease. Other studies have shown that such children go on to develop overt symptoms 30 to 40 years later.
For the teens, Green put together an eight-week weight-training program. Their total body weight didn't change, but the children lost body fat and replaced it with lean muscle mass.
"In young children it is a little bit trickier because they don't want to push weights in a gym. They want to run around in a field," Green said. "It was essentially fun and games." Both groups had tended to hang back in school physical education programs, but threw themselves wholeheartedly into Green's program, he said.
In both groups, total blood cholesterol levels did not change, but both groups had improved endothelial function.
After eight weeks of exercising three times a week for an hour each time, the children were allowed to go back to their sedentary ways. Two months later, Green tested their blood vessels again.
"The improvements we saw with exercise had reverted back," he said. "The bad news is you have to keep on doing it. The good news is it has a good effect."
Vitamins May Protect Against Cataracts
As Americans get older, the incidence of cataracts is expected to triple in the next half century. But the risk of this age-related condition, in which of the lens of the eye becomes cloudy and impairs vision, may be reduced by taking a daily multivitamin pill for 10 years or more, recent study findings suggest.
"There is evidence that certain dietary components, such as vitamins and minerals involved in protection against oxidative stress, may have a role in slowing cataract development," according to Dr. Julie A. Mares-Perlman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School. There is "…a body of evidence suggesting lower risk for cataract among users of vitamin supplements and stronger associations with long-term use,"
In the new study, the researchers examined data from more than 3,000 people aged 43 to 86. Individuals who took a multivitamin or a supplement that contained vitamin C or E for more than 10 years had a 60% lower risk of developing a cataract regardless of other risk factors.
For example, the relationship between long-term supplement use and lower cataract risk remained regardless of smoking, alcohol use, diabetes, age, weight and physical activity. But taking multivitamins or supplements for less than 10 years did not appear to lower the risk of developing a cataract.
Source: Archives of Ophthalmology 2000;118:1556-1563.
