Obesity may lead to Alzheimer's/Time in care can affect children's anxiety/Common metal linked to breast cancer

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Obesity may lead to Alzheimer's

July 15 2003

By Michael Bradley

 

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/14/1058034940591.html

 

 

A link has been identified for the first time between obesity and

Alzheimer's disease.

 

The breakthrough research offers hope for arresting the rise in Alzheimer's

cases in Australia. But with more than 60 per cent of Australians considered

overweight or obese, it may present health authorities with as many dilemmas

as opportunities.

 

The study, to be published in Archives of Internal Medicine, tracked 226

women with no symptoms of dementia at the age of 70 until they reached 88.

 

The researchers, from Gothenburg University, found that with every unit

increase in body mass index at age 70, each woman's chance of developing

Alzheimer's increased by 36 per cent.

 

Body mass index is measured by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by

their height in metres squared. A body mass index of between 19 and 25 falls

within the healthy range.

 

Old age and family history remain Alzheimer's major predictors, but the

Swedish research suggests a healthy weight will greatly reduce a person's

risk of developing the disease.

 

The study found 93 women who developed Alzheimer's disease between the ages

of 79 and 88 were significantly more likely to have been overweight, with

their average body mass index being 3.6 points higher than the average of

women who showed no signs of dementia.

 

The professor of psychogeriatrics at the University of NSW, and chairman of

Alzheimer's Disease International, Henry Brodaty, said: " This is a very

important finding from a good study in a top-rate journal. There are a whole

heap of reasons why we should be worried about being overweight and this

finding just adds another one. "

 

The chief executive of the Alzheimer's Association in NSW, Lewis Kaplan,

said the findings were not all good news. He said Alzheimer's already

accounted for about 60 per cent of dementia patients in Australia and the

future cost of the condition was " in the mega-billions " .

 

" At present, we're talking around 1 per cent of GDP, but by 2040 it's

projected this will jump to more than 3 per cent, " he said. " As the baby

boomers move into their dotage, unless we can prevent, cure, or otherwise

deal with this disease, it's going to become a very, very major public

health problem. "

 

The head of Public Health at Sydney University, Professor Bruce Armstrong,

echoed these concerns. He said cost projections for Alzheimer's were based

solely on the ageing of the population and assumed current incidence rates

would remain constant.

 

" If it turns out that one of the risk factors is increasing, and we know

that the prevalence of obesity in our community is climbing rather quickly,

then that would make future projections worse rather than better, " he said.

 

 

 

Time in care can affect children's anxiety

July 17 2003

By Susan Gilbert, Caroline Milburn

 

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/16/1058035076203.html

 

 

 

Debate about the impact of child care on children is about to be rekindled

with the release of two studies that build on evidence showing that children

who spend long hours in care are likely to be more aggressive and anxious.

 

One study found that the more time children spent in child care, the more

likely they were to be disobedient and have trouble getting along with

others, though it suggested that factors such as a mother's sensitivity to a

child's needs could moderate that.

 

Seventeen per cent of children who spent more than 30 hours a week in child

care showed problem behaviour at ages four to six.

 

Only 6 per cent of those who spent fewer than 10 hours in care had the same

problems.

 

The report is from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the

largest long-term study of child care in the United States.

 

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - a branch of

the National Institutes of Health - began the study in 1991. The findings

elaborate on preliminary research that created controversy when

investigators presented the research two years ago.

 

The other study found that in children younger than three, levels of

cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, rose in the afternoon during

full days they spent in day care, but fell as the hours passed on days they

spent at home.

 

This study's researchers, from the Institute of Child Development of the

University of Minnesota, had earlier found the same pattern in children aged

three and four.

 

Cortisol levels in the saliva of day-care children were highest and rose

most steeply in those whom day-care centre staffed judged to be the shyest.

 

" These children struggle in group situations and find them stressful, " said

the study's lead author, Megan Gunnar.

 

 

In children (under) three, levels of cortisol ... rose during full days in

day care.

Australian child-care experts said yesterday the studies should be treated

with caution because it was unclear whether the children received the same

quality of care or whether standards varied.

 

Peter McDonald, of the Australian National University, said the findings

raised concerns about long periods spent in care but they were irrelevant

for most Australian parents, who used child care for much shorter periods.

 

Eighty per cent of children in formal and informal care are there for less

than 20 hours a week, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

 

Professor McDonald said a gradual change from mother care to non-mother care

for toddlers was probably best for their development and sense of

adjustment.

 

with New York Times

 

Common metal linked to breast cancer

July 15 2003

 

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/14/1058034940594.html

 

 

Cadmium, a heavy metal that occurs naturally in common foods, may be a risk

factor for breast cancer, a study has found.

 

Cadmium is found in a wide range of foods including green leafy vegetables,

root vegetables, meat, kidneys, seafood and peanuts and is widely used in

batteries and alloys.

 

It is known that exposure to high levels can cause kidney damage and bone

disease.

 

But the study by US researchers from Georgetown University found even

relatively low doses of cadmium affected the mammary glands and sexual

development of rats in a way that mimics the female hormone oestrogen. The

study is published online by the journal Nature Medicine today. When exposed

to low doses of cadmium, the rats showed an increase in mammary gland

density, uterine weight and endometrial lining - telltale signs in the early

onset of breast cancer. When pregnant rats were exposed to the same low

dose, their female offspring experienced earlier onset of puberty and

mammary gland development - another risk factor of breast cancer.

 

Melbourne's Jean Hailes Foundation research director Susan Davis said the

study's results should be treated with caution. " It should cause alarm

bells, but you can't stop eating and drinking, " she said. " It may be that

rodents would never be exposed to cadmium... maybe humans have been adapted

to handling this over thousands of years. "

 

- AAP, Lucy Beaumont