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March 15, 2011  In This Issue... - Why Women Live Longer Than Men
- Can Your Pollen Allergy Include Fruits and Vegetables? -- New Problem for Spring Allergy Sufferers
- Blast Away High Cholesterol. Lose 67 Points in Just 28 Days
- About That Claim That Bariatric Surgery "Cures" Diabetes: Not So Fast...
- In the Wake of the Quake
Why Women Live Longer Than Men Drink more red wine. Eat blueberries by the handful. Take daily supplements. Or do it all. However you choose, adding Resveratrol to your daily diet may help you live a longer, more enjoyable life. It’s one of the most potent antioxidants today, with study after study showing its powerful anti-aging effects. In recent months, it’s been heralded in the media, including a feature on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Keep reading to find out more about how this powerful nutrient can help you live a longer, healthier life.
Can Your Pollen Allergy Include Fruits and Vegetables? It’s bad enough that springtime can bring miserable allergy symptoms like itchy eyes, a runny nose and persistent postnasal drip, but more patients seem to be noticing that their pesky pollen allergies are accompanied by a whole other set of seemingly unrelated problems, including allergic reactions to many of the most popular fruits and vegetables -- the healthy foods that we thought were supposed to help us! While seasonal hay fever and food allergies aren’t associated in many people’s minds, there can in fact be a connection, I was told by practicing allergist Hannelore Brucker, MD, of the Southdale Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Minneapolis. Dr. Brucker began studying this phenomenon, called "oral allergy syndrome," when she noticed that more of her patients were complaining about strange symptoms, such as an itchy mouth from eating a banana or hives on their skin from peeling potatoes. According to Dr. Brucker, pollen allergies affect about one in five people and, in her practice at least, about one-third of these unfortunate folks also are having allergic reactions to fruits and vegetables and some nuts and herbs. A Simple Chemistry Equation It sounds mysterious, but there actually is a straightforward explanation as to why this happens. Chemically speaking, some of the proteins in pollen and certain fruits and vegetables (listed below) are very similar -- Dr. Brucker calls them "crossover proteins." Their purpose is the same -- in pollens and in fruits and vegetables -- these proteins help protect against pests that would harm the plants. As we all know, in some people, the body manufactures antibodies to fight off seemingly benign substances (such as pollen) that it regards as foreign and intrusive. This then sets off a chain reaction that releases histamine, which starts inflammation and produces all those irritating symptoms that make spring and/or fall so very unpleasant for affected individuals. The Food Connection What happens with oral allergy syndrome is that when susceptible people are exposed to pollen that irritates them (such as birch tree pollen from March through May... or ragweed pollen from mid-August to the first frost), their bodies not only build up antibodies but, over time, they also begin developing an allergy to the fruits and vegetables that have similar proteins. For most people, the problem manifests itself as itching in the area of the lips, tongue and throat (hence the name "oral" allergy syndrome). This usually occurs within a few minutes of eating or touching the offending food and almost always vanishes quickly with no intervention -- but, Dr. Brucker said, a small percentage of patients experience reactions that are extreme and dangerous, including constriction of the throat or, rarely, anaphylactic shock. If this happens, it is a medical emergency that requires an immediate trip to the hospital. The Offending Foods Heat (cooking) alters the chemistry of the proteins and makes them no longer problematic, so for the most part these reactions occur only with raw fruits or vegetables. Carrots and celery are frequent offenders, possibly because they often are eaten raw. Peeling potatoes also can make hands itch or produce hives or watery eyes in those who are sensitive. According to Dr. Brucker, the stronger the pollen allergy, the greater the likelihood that you’ll have an oral allergy reaction. Time of year is also relevant since the various pollens are seasonal -- if you are allergic to birch, you may be more allergic to its cross-reactive fruits and veggies in the spring, when you are having intense allergies. The reactions may vary among different strains of the same fruit and, as noted above, also will be affected by cooking. If you are allergic to any type of pollen, now you know to keep track of any adverse reactions you get from eating fruits or vegetables... and then to consider limiting those foods, or at least eating them only cooked, not raw. For example, here is a list of foods from Dr. Brucker that are known to evoke oral allergy symptoms in people allergic to birch and ragweed... Foods Reactive to Birch Allergy Apples
Pears
Cherries
Peaches
Plums
Apricots
Carrots
Celery
Potatoes (raw)
Kiwi
Hazelnuts
Almonds
Foods Reactive to Ragweed Allergy All melons, including Cantaloupe -- the most reactive
Watermelon
Honeydew
Cucumbers
Bananas
Zucchini
Chamomile tea
Echinacea (an herb) A few other interesting facts: There is some indication that yet another common allergen -- grass pollen -- can lead to oral reactions, for example to tomatoes. While many people have other types of food allergies, such as to peanuts, fish and shrimp, Dr. Brucker told me that these are completely different from, and not related to, pollen allergies and oral allergy syndrome. What You Can Do If you’re thinking, "hmm... this itchy mouth stuff sounds familiar," Dr. Brucker suggests you schedule an appointment with your allergist. It’s smart to bring along the actual offending raw, fresh food so that your doctor can use it to do an easy skin-prick test, in which the doctor uses a needle to prick the fruit and then the patient’s skin and observes the reaction -- a test that has the advantage of producing an immediate result that doesn’t require sending samples to a lab. (Note: Dr. Brucker said that some doctors use commercial fruit extracts for this testing, but since these products have been heated for sterilization, they may not produce a reliable result.) And Dr. Brucker has one bit of good news for people who are allergy sufferers and also have oral allergy syndrome -- the problem tends to fade away about the same time the pollen does. Source(s):
Hannelore Brucker, MD, is a practicing allergist at the Southdale Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Minneapolis.
Blast Away High Cholesterol. Lose 67 Points in Just 28 Days The big drug companies don't want you to know about the alternative cures that can make their drugs obsolete. The alternative medicine believers think drugs and surgery are bad ideas. Guess what? They're both dead wrong. Finally, a maverick M.D. has dared to identify the world's best cures from both sides of the medical aisle. These are the real forbidden cures you want... Read on...
About That Claim That Bariatric Surgery "Cures" Diabetes: Not So Fast... In addition to treating severe obesity, bariatric surgery now is touted by many hospitals as a "cure" for type 2 diabetes -- but research shows that it actually may just mask certain characteristics of the disease. Although the procedure does in fact improve levels of hemoglobin-A1c (a marker of long-term blood sugar control) and fasting blood glucose, both markers of diabetes, continuous glucose monitoring shows that that isn’t the whole story. It turns out that even after patients achieve weight loss as a result of having bariatric surgery, their blood sugar levels are still apt to spike after meals... which means that diabetes is not cured. Improvement, Yes -- Cure, No Bariatric surgery is weight-loss surgery that modifies your digestive system to limit how much food you can eat. There are various types. In Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, the most frequently performed bariatric procedure, the surgeon staples the stomach to create a small pouch and a passage for food to bypass part of the small intestine. In a paper presented at last year’s annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Anna Marina, MD, a senior clinical research fellow at the University of Washington (together with Dace L. Trence, MD) presented research raising important questions about the claim that the surgery banishes diabetes. Titled "Is Diabetes Mellitus Really Cured by Gastric Bypass Surgery?," the study presented the case of an obese 55-year-old man with diabetes who had RYGB surgery... - Immediately following surgery, his insulin requirement was reduced from 100 units a day to just 30.
- Four months later, he had lost 100 pounds and his fasting blood glucose (FBG) and hemoglobin (A1C) measurements had become nearly normal, enabling him to stop taking insulin.
But there was a catch: Further testing of his after-meal (postprandial) glucose revealed blood sugar levels above 200 mg/dl -- a level consistent with diabetes. The patient needed to take another drug -- the oral glucose-lowering medication repaglinide (Prandin) -- to bring his postmeal glucose to a safe level. What It Means According to Dr. Marina, this case suggests that while gastric bypass surgery can result in significant improvements in diabetes, even its remission, it cannot be considered a cure. Further research is in order, but in the meantime Dr. Marina recommends that doctors begin to use a different measure (either postmeal glucose testing or continuous glucose monitoring, which requires implantation of a sensor) to more accurately track diabetes in people after gastric bypass surgery. A Better Bet: Diet and Exercise As with any major surgery, gastric bypass has serious -- even life-threatening -- risks. For more information on gastric bypass surgery, see Daily Health News, "Weight-Loss Surgery: Health Trade-Off?", May 24, 2010. Dangers aside, do not make the mistake of believing gastric bypass gives you a free pass on diet and exercise. Indeed, success after surgery is contingent on making a lifelong commitment to changes in eating and exercise habits. It’s not miracle surgery. Source(s):
Anna L. Marina, MD, senior clinical research fellow, division of metabolism, endocrinology and nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle.
In the Wake of the Quake Since news of the Japanese earthquake broke last Friday, I, like most people I know, have been totally absorbed in watching and reading news reports about the terrible destruction, the lost lives, and the recovery efforts going on over there. I keep hoping that this next report will have rosier news that the last one. Tonight (I'm writing this on Sunday evening) turned into a meaningful reprieve from the tragedy unfolding in Japan. Learn more...
Be well, 
Carole Jackson
Bottom Line's Daily Health News
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