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Preventive oral health visits to physicians associated with healthier teeth
Children who saw their physician four or more times for preventive oral health services (POHS) before their third birthday experienced fewer dental caries than those who did not receive such services, according to a retrospective study.
“Medical visits with POHS were associated with a reduction in overall mean [decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth] in children,” noted Ashley M. Kranz, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and colleagues.
POHS included services such as dental screening, application of topical fluoride, and oral health counseling of parents. Surveillance data and North Carolina Medicaid files for 29,173 kindergartners were studied. Of the sample, 69.7% did not receive POHS from physicians, while of the 8,851 who did receive POHS, 51.3% made one visit, 29.3% made two visits, 13.1% made three visits, and 6.3% made at least four visits to a physician that included POHS.
Overall, 47.9% participants in the study had greater than zero decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), and 25.3% of the children studied had greater than zero untreated decayed teeth (DT) by the time they entered kindergarten. On average, the research subjects had 2.19 DMFT and 0.76 DT.
DMFT differed significantly between children who made 1, 2, 3, and ≥ 4 physician visits with POHS. In fact, DMFT was lowest among the study participants who saw their physician the most times for POHS (mean DMFT = 1.76) and highest among the children who received no POHS from physicians (mean DMFT = 2.23).
Unlike DMFT, DT did not differ significantly between children who made varying amounts of medical visits for POHS.
“Development and testing of strategies to improve the linkage between medical and dental offices are needed to ensure the continuity of care for those children receiving POHS in medical settings,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Pediatrics (doi:10.1542/peds/2014-2775).
Children who saw their physician four or more times for preventive oral health services (POHS) before their third birthday experienced fewer dental caries than those who did not receive such services, according to a retrospective study.
“Medical visits with POHS were associated with a reduction in overall mean [decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth] in children,” noted Ashley M. Kranz, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and colleagues.
POHS included services such as dental screening, application of topical fluoride, and oral health counseling of parents. Surveillance data and North Carolina Medicaid files for 29,173 kindergartners were studied. Of the sample, 69.7% did not receive POHS from physicians, while of the 8,851 who did receive POHS, 51.3% made one visit, 29.3% made two visits, 13.1% made three visits, and 6.3% made at least four visits to a physician that included POHS.
Overall, 47.9% participants in the study had greater than zero decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), and 25.3% of the children studied had greater than zero untreated decayed teeth (DT) by the time they entered kindergarten. On average, the research subjects had 2.19 DMFT and 0.76 DT.
DMFT differed significantly between children who made 1, 2, 3, and ≥ 4 physician visits with POHS. In fact, DMFT was lowest among the study participants who saw their physician the most times for POHS (mean DMFT = 1.76) and highest among the children who received no POHS from physicians (mean DMFT = 2.23).
Unlike DMFT, DT did not differ significantly between children who made varying amounts of medical visits for POHS.
“Development and testing of strategies to improve the linkage between medical and dental offices are needed to ensure the continuity of care for those children receiving POHS in medical settings,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Pediatrics (doi:10.1542/peds/2014-2775).
Children who saw their physician four or more times for preventive oral health services (POHS) before their third birthday experienced fewer dental caries than those who did not receive such services, according to a retrospective study.
“Medical visits with POHS were associated with a reduction in overall mean [decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth] in children,” noted Ashley M. Kranz, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and colleagues.
POHS included services such as dental screening, application of topical fluoride, and oral health counseling of parents. Surveillance data and North Carolina Medicaid files for 29,173 kindergartners were studied. Of the sample, 69.7% did not receive POHS from physicians, while of the 8,851 who did receive POHS, 51.3% made one visit, 29.3% made two visits, 13.1% made three visits, and 6.3% made at least four visits to a physician that included POHS.
Overall, 47.9% participants in the study had greater than zero decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), and 25.3% of the children studied had greater than zero untreated decayed teeth (DT) by the time they entered kindergarten. On average, the research subjects had 2.19 DMFT and 0.76 DT.
DMFT differed significantly between children who made 1, 2, 3, and ≥ 4 physician visits with POHS. In fact, DMFT was lowest among the study participants who saw their physician the most times for POHS (mean DMFT = 1.76) and highest among the children who received no POHS from physicians (mean DMFT = 2.23).
Unlike DMFT, DT did not differ significantly between children who made varying amounts of medical visits for POHS.
“Development and testing of strategies to improve the linkage between medical and dental offices are needed to ensure the continuity of care for those children receiving POHS in medical settings,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Pediatrics (doi:10.1542/peds/2014-2775).
FROM PEDIATRICS
ACC/HRS/SCAI seek to unify rollout of percutaneous LAA occlusion
Three professional societies have published an overview of their opinions on the circumstances under which it is most appropriate to use percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion devices.
In the statement, the American College of Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society, and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions provide their takes on the efficacy of various percutaneous LAA occlusion devices at reducing stroke risk and provide recommendations on when and how to use such devices.
For example, the overview includes criteria for those evaluating the appropriateness of using one of the devices on a particular patient and for those performing an LAA occlusion procedure. It additionally describes where to perform the procedures and what the societies consider to be the necessary protocols for care.
The statement also calls for the creation of various guidelines, asserting that professional societies have a responsibility “to set minimal performance standards for LAA procedures, develop training curriculum, and establish the metrics for evaluation,” and that “specific recommendations for training in LAA occlusion need to developed.”
Additionally, the societies recommend that data on the outcomes of using all LAA occlusion devices be collected and recorded in an existing registry or new registry similar to the transcatheter valve therapy registry.
“This document highlights the critical issues surrounding left atrial appendage occlusion therapies,” said Dr. Frederick A. Masoudi, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver and chair of the writing committee. “We aimed to facilitate the alignment among patients and their families, primary care physicians, general cardiologists, and additional heart team members and procedural specialists.”
Read the full paper at J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2015 [doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.06.028].
Three professional societies have published an overview of their opinions on the circumstances under which it is most appropriate to use percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion devices.
In the statement, the American College of Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society, and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions provide their takes on the efficacy of various percutaneous LAA occlusion devices at reducing stroke risk and provide recommendations on when and how to use such devices.
For example, the overview includes criteria for those evaluating the appropriateness of using one of the devices on a particular patient and for those performing an LAA occlusion procedure. It additionally describes where to perform the procedures and what the societies consider to be the necessary protocols for care.
The statement also calls for the creation of various guidelines, asserting that professional societies have a responsibility “to set minimal performance standards for LAA procedures, develop training curriculum, and establish the metrics for evaluation,” and that “specific recommendations for training in LAA occlusion need to developed.”
Additionally, the societies recommend that data on the outcomes of using all LAA occlusion devices be collected and recorded in an existing registry or new registry similar to the transcatheter valve therapy registry.
“This document highlights the critical issues surrounding left atrial appendage occlusion therapies,” said Dr. Frederick A. Masoudi, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver and chair of the writing committee. “We aimed to facilitate the alignment among patients and their families, primary care physicians, general cardiologists, and additional heart team members and procedural specialists.”
Read the full paper at J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2015 [doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.06.028].
Three professional societies have published an overview of their opinions on the circumstances under which it is most appropriate to use percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion devices.
In the statement, the American College of Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society, and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions provide their takes on the efficacy of various percutaneous LAA occlusion devices at reducing stroke risk and provide recommendations on when and how to use such devices.
For example, the overview includes criteria for those evaluating the appropriateness of using one of the devices on a particular patient and for those performing an LAA occlusion procedure. It additionally describes where to perform the procedures and what the societies consider to be the necessary protocols for care.
The statement also calls for the creation of various guidelines, asserting that professional societies have a responsibility “to set minimal performance standards for LAA procedures, develop training curriculum, and establish the metrics for evaluation,” and that “specific recommendations for training in LAA occlusion need to developed.”
Additionally, the societies recommend that data on the outcomes of using all LAA occlusion devices be collected and recorded in an existing registry or new registry similar to the transcatheter valve therapy registry.
“This document highlights the critical issues surrounding left atrial appendage occlusion therapies,” said Dr. Frederick A. Masoudi, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver and chair of the writing committee. “We aimed to facilitate the alignment among patients and their families, primary care physicians, general cardiologists, and additional heart team members and procedural specialists.”
Read the full paper at J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2015 [doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.06.028].
CVD becomes second-largest cause of death in U.K.
For the first time since the middle of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease is not the main cause of death overall in the United Kingdom, according to 2012 data published in Heart.
Cancer narrowly took the lead, with 29% of mortalities in 2012 having resulted from this disease, compared to the 28% of deaths that resulted from cardiovascular disease (CVD). But CVD remains the largest killer of women in the U.K.
In 2012, 28% of all female deaths and 32% of all male deaths were caused by CVD. The highest cause of mortality for men was cancer, with 32% of male deaths having resulted from that disease. A slightly smaller percentage of female deaths – 27% – was caused by cancer than by CVD. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency provided the data.
Of the CVD deaths, 46%, or just under 73,500, were from coronary heart disease (CHD) and 26%, or about 41,000, were from stroke.
CVD caused more than a quarter of premature deaths – defined as deaths occurring in people younger than 75 – in men and 18% of premature deaths in women. CHD was the most common cause of premature death in U.K. men.
CVD death rates also varied per region of the United Kingdom, with higher percentages of the populations of Scotland and the north of England having died of CVD than the percentage of people living in the south of England who died from the disease, according to age-standardized death rates by local authorities. Glasgow City, Scotland, had the highest CVD mortality, with 144/100,0000 people having died prematurely and 400/100,000 people having died of the disease.
“The improvements in survival [of people with CVD] mean that there is now a high prevalence of people living with CVD,” according to Prachi Bhatnagar, Ph.D., and her colleagues.
The numbers of people suffering from CHD, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure in the U.K. in 2012 and 2013 were approximately 2.3 million, 1.2 million, 1 million and 480,000, respectively, Quality of Outcomes Framework data suggest. The number of operations carried out to treat CHD is increasing in the United Kingdom, with greater than 90,000 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) having been carried out in 2012 – more than twice as many as had been performed a decade earlier.
“CVD remains a substantial burden to the U.K., both in terms of health and economic costs,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Heart (doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307516).
For the first time since the middle of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease is not the main cause of death overall in the United Kingdom, according to 2012 data published in Heart.
Cancer narrowly took the lead, with 29% of mortalities in 2012 having resulted from this disease, compared to the 28% of deaths that resulted from cardiovascular disease (CVD). But CVD remains the largest killer of women in the U.K.
In 2012, 28% of all female deaths and 32% of all male deaths were caused by CVD. The highest cause of mortality for men was cancer, with 32% of male deaths having resulted from that disease. A slightly smaller percentage of female deaths – 27% – was caused by cancer than by CVD. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency provided the data.
Of the CVD deaths, 46%, or just under 73,500, were from coronary heart disease (CHD) and 26%, or about 41,000, were from stroke.
CVD caused more than a quarter of premature deaths – defined as deaths occurring in people younger than 75 – in men and 18% of premature deaths in women. CHD was the most common cause of premature death in U.K. men.
CVD death rates also varied per region of the United Kingdom, with higher percentages of the populations of Scotland and the north of England having died of CVD than the percentage of people living in the south of England who died from the disease, according to age-standardized death rates by local authorities. Glasgow City, Scotland, had the highest CVD mortality, with 144/100,0000 people having died prematurely and 400/100,000 people having died of the disease.
“The improvements in survival [of people with CVD] mean that there is now a high prevalence of people living with CVD,” according to Prachi Bhatnagar, Ph.D., and her colleagues.
The numbers of people suffering from CHD, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure in the U.K. in 2012 and 2013 were approximately 2.3 million, 1.2 million, 1 million and 480,000, respectively, Quality of Outcomes Framework data suggest. The number of operations carried out to treat CHD is increasing in the United Kingdom, with greater than 90,000 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) having been carried out in 2012 – more than twice as many as had been performed a decade earlier.
“CVD remains a substantial burden to the U.K., both in terms of health and economic costs,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Heart (doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307516).
For the first time since the middle of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease is not the main cause of death overall in the United Kingdom, according to 2012 data published in Heart.
Cancer narrowly took the lead, with 29% of mortalities in 2012 having resulted from this disease, compared to the 28% of deaths that resulted from cardiovascular disease (CVD). But CVD remains the largest killer of women in the U.K.
In 2012, 28% of all female deaths and 32% of all male deaths were caused by CVD. The highest cause of mortality for men was cancer, with 32% of male deaths having resulted from that disease. A slightly smaller percentage of female deaths – 27% – was caused by cancer than by CVD. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency provided the data.
Of the CVD deaths, 46%, or just under 73,500, were from coronary heart disease (CHD) and 26%, or about 41,000, were from stroke.
CVD caused more than a quarter of premature deaths – defined as deaths occurring in people younger than 75 – in men and 18% of premature deaths in women. CHD was the most common cause of premature death in U.K. men.
CVD death rates also varied per region of the United Kingdom, with higher percentages of the populations of Scotland and the north of England having died of CVD than the percentage of people living in the south of England who died from the disease, according to age-standardized death rates by local authorities. Glasgow City, Scotland, had the highest CVD mortality, with 144/100,0000 people having died prematurely and 400/100,000 people having died of the disease.
“The improvements in survival [of people with CVD] mean that there is now a high prevalence of people living with CVD,” according to Prachi Bhatnagar, Ph.D., and her colleagues.
The numbers of people suffering from CHD, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure in the U.K. in 2012 and 2013 were approximately 2.3 million, 1.2 million, 1 million and 480,000, respectively, Quality of Outcomes Framework data suggest. The number of operations carried out to treat CHD is increasing in the United Kingdom, with greater than 90,000 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) having been carried out in 2012 – more than twice as many as had been performed a decade earlier.
“CVD remains a substantial burden to the U.K., both in terms of health and economic costs,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Heart (doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307516).
FROM HEART
Obesity, genetic variations found in adult survivors of childhood cancer
The St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study found obesity in a higher percentage of adult survivors of childhood cancer than previous studies.
Thirty-six percent of the research project’s 1,996 participants were obese, which the study defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2. All of the study’s participants previously had received treatment for cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., and had been cancer survivors for at least 10 years.
The prevalence of obesity was even higher in the subset of the sample that had been treated with cranial radiation (CRT). Forty-five percent of such survivors were obese, compared to 29.4% of the study’s participants, who had not been exposed to CRT. Another finding specific to the cancer survivors that had received CRT were associations between obesity, and variations in the regions in and around the genes FAM155A, GLRA3, CDH18, and SOX11.
“Because both CDH18 and SOX11 appear to influence neuronal growth, repair, and connectivity, these genes may be important regulators of neuronal response to radiation-induced damage among CCS,” according to Carmen L. Wilson, Ph.D., and her colleagues. They added that single nucleotide polymorphisms in such genes could alter obesity risk but said more research needs to be conducted to confirm this.
Among the study’s other findings were that older age at evaluation, previous treatment with CRT, and glucocorticoid exposures were independently associated with obesity. Chest, abdominal, or pelvic, radiation exposure, in contrast, were negatively correlated with having a BMI at or above 30 kg/m2.
The study has confirmed that “the high prevalence of obesity among [survivors of childhood cancer] persists decades after cancer treatment and appears to be influenced by therapies received during childhood and obesity status at diagnosis,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Cancer (doi: 10.10002/cncr.29153).
The St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study found obesity in a higher percentage of adult survivors of childhood cancer than previous studies.
Thirty-six percent of the research project’s 1,996 participants were obese, which the study defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2. All of the study’s participants previously had received treatment for cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., and had been cancer survivors for at least 10 years.
The prevalence of obesity was even higher in the subset of the sample that had been treated with cranial radiation (CRT). Forty-five percent of such survivors were obese, compared to 29.4% of the study’s participants, who had not been exposed to CRT. Another finding specific to the cancer survivors that had received CRT were associations between obesity, and variations in the regions in and around the genes FAM155A, GLRA3, CDH18, and SOX11.
“Because both CDH18 and SOX11 appear to influence neuronal growth, repair, and connectivity, these genes may be important regulators of neuronal response to radiation-induced damage among CCS,” according to Carmen L. Wilson, Ph.D., and her colleagues. They added that single nucleotide polymorphisms in such genes could alter obesity risk but said more research needs to be conducted to confirm this.
Among the study’s other findings were that older age at evaluation, previous treatment with CRT, and glucocorticoid exposures were independently associated with obesity. Chest, abdominal, or pelvic, radiation exposure, in contrast, were negatively correlated with having a BMI at or above 30 kg/m2.
The study has confirmed that “the high prevalence of obesity among [survivors of childhood cancer] persists decades after cancer treatment and appears to be influenced by therapies received during childhood and obesity status at diagnosis,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Cancer (doi: 10.10002/cncr.29153).
The St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study found obesity in a higher percentage of adult survivors of childhood cancer than previous studies.
Thirty-six percent of the research project’s 1,996 participants were obese, which the study defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2. All of the study’s participants previously had received treatment for cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., and had been cancer survivors for at least 10 years.
The prevalence of obesity was even higher in the subset of the sample that had been treated with cranial radiation (CRT). Forty-five percent of such survivors were obese, compared to 29.4% of the study’s participants, who had not been exposed to CRT. Another finding specific to the cancer survivors that had received CRT were associations between obesity, and variations in the regions in and around the genes FAM155A, GLRA3, CDH18, and SOX11.
“Because both CDH18 and SOX11 appear to influence neuronal growth, repair, and connectivity, these genes may be important regulators of neuronal response to radiation-induced damage among CCS,” according to Carmen L. Wilson, Ph.D., and her colleagues. They added that single nucleotide polymorphisms in such genes could alter obesity risk but said more research needs to be conducted to confirm this.
Among the study’s other findings were that older age at evaluation, previous treatment with CRT, and glucocorticoid exposures were independently associated with obesity. Chest, abdominal, or pelvic, radiation exposure, in contrast, were negatively correlated with having a BMI at or above 30 kg/m2.
The study has confirmed that “the high prevalence of obesity among [survivors of childhood cancer] persists decades after cancer treatment and appears to be influenced by therapies received during childhood and obesity status at diagnosis,” according to the researchers.
Read the full study in Cancer (doi: 10.10002/cncr.29153).
CRC linked to teen BMI, inflammation
Higher-than-normal body mass index and inflammation in late adolescence may be associated with colorectal cancer risk, a cohort study of 239,658 Swedish men showed.
The study’s results suggest that body mass index (BMI) and inflammation in early life may be important to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), said Dr. Elizabeth D. Kantor and her colleagues.
The study’s participants, who were all between the ages of 16 and 20, were drawn from a cohort of men who underwent a compulsory conscription assessment for the Swedish military between 1969 and 1976 – when only men with severe disability or chronic diseases were exempt from serving in the military.
During the assessments, each young man’s height and weight was measured, which the study’s researchers used to calculate BMIs in kg/m2 for the sample. The BMIs were categorized in the following ways: 15 to <18.5 was underweight, 18.5 to <25 was normal, 25 to <27.5 was the lower category of overweight, 27.5 to <30 was the upper category of overweight, and 30 to <55 was obese. Venous blood samples of the entire cohort were also collected during the assessment. These were used to assess inflammation levels as indicated by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a nonspecific biomarker of inflammation. The researchers classified each study participant’s ESR as low, moderate, or high. The researchers tracked the incidences of malignant CRC in the cohort for an average of 35 years using the Swedish Cancer Registry. Men who had been categorized as being in the upper category of overweight at the time of assessment were 2.08 times more likely to get CRC than normal weight men; obese men were 2.38 times more likely to get the disease. Both of these findings were statistically significant. The researchers also determined that a high ESR was associated with a significant 63% increased risk of CRC, using a multivariable adjustment.
“While no other studies have directly addressed the association between early-life inflammation and CRC risk, evidence supports the role of inflammation early in carcinogenesis,” the researchers wrote.Another novelty of this study is that adolescents’ BMIs were measured instead of being based on recall, as they had been in other researchers’ attempts to determine the relationship between adolescent BMI and CRC risk in adulthood.
“With additional follow-up, and therefore, statistical power, future studies may address how adolescent inflammation and BMI interact to affect cancer risk. Further research is needed to better disentangle BMI and inflammation from associated exposures, and similarly, from exposures at other points in the life coarse,” the researchers wrote.
Read the full study in Gut (doi:10:1136/gutjnl-2014-309007).
Higher-than-normal body mass index and inflammation in late adolescence may be associated with colorectal cancer risk, a cohort study of 239,658 Swedish men showed.
The study’s results suggest that body mass index (BMI) and inflammation in early life may be important to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), said Dr. Elizabeth D. Kantor and her colleagues.
The study’s participants, who were all between the ages of 16 and 20, were drawn from a cohort of men who underwent a compulsory conscription assessment for the Swedish military between 1969 and 1976 – when only men with severe disability or chronic diseases were exempt from serving in the military.
During the assessments, each young man’s height and weight was measured, which the study’s researchers used to calculate BMIs in kg/m2 for the sample. The BMIs were categorized in the following ways: 15 to <18.5 was underweight, 18.5 to <25 was normal, 25 to <27.5 was the lower category of overweight, 27.5 to <30 was the upper category of overweight, and 30 to <55 was obese. Venous blood samples of the entire cohort were also collected during the assessment. These were used to assess inflammation levels as indicated by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a nonspecific biomarker of inflammation. The researchers classified each study participant’s ESR as low, moderate, or high. The researchers tracked the incidences of malignant CRC in the cohort for an average of 35 years using the Swedish Cancer Registry. Men who had been categorized as being in the upper category of overweight at the time of assessment were 2.08 times more likely to get CRC than normal weight men; obese men were 2.38 times more likely to get the disease. Both of these findings were statistically significant. The researchers also determined that a high ESR was associated with a significant 63% increased risk of CRC, using a multivariable adjustment.
“While no other studies have directly addressed the association between early-life inflammation and CRC risk, evidence supports the role of inflammation early in carcinogenesis,” the researchers wrote.Another novelty of this study is that adolescents’ BMIs were measured instead of being based on recall, as they had been in other researchers’ attempts to determine the relationship between adolescent BMI and CRC risk in adulthood.
“With additional follow-up, and therefore, statistical power, future studies may address how adolescent inflammation and BMI interact to affect cancer risk. Further research is needed to better disentangle BMI and inflammation from associated exposures, and similarly, from exposures at other points in the life coarse,” the researchers wrote.
Read the full study in Gut (doi:10:1136/gutjnl-2014-309007).
Higher-than-normal body mass index and inflammation in late adolescence may be associated with colorectal cancer risk, a cohort study of 239,658 Swedish men showed.
The study’s results suggest that body mass index (BMI) and inflammation in early life may be important to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), said Dr. Elizabeth D. Kantor and her colleagues.
The study’s participants, who were all between the ages of 16 and 20, were drawn from a cohort of men who underwent a compulsory conscription assessment for the Swedish military between 1969 and 1976 – when only men with severe disability or chronic diseases were exempt from serving in the military.
During the assessments, each young man’s height and weight was measured, which the study’s researchers used to calculate BMIs in kg/m2 for the sample. The BMIs were categorized in the following ways: 15 to <18.5 was underweight, 18.5 to <25 was normal, 25 to <27.5 was the lower category of overweight, 27.5 to <30 was the upper category of overweight, and 30 to <55 was obese. Venous blood samples of the entire cohort were also collected during the assessment. These were used to assess inflammation levels as indicated by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a nonspecific biomarker of inflammation. The researchers classified each study participant’s ESR as low, moderate, or high. The researchers tracked the incidences of malignant CRC in the cohort for an average of 35 years using the Swedish Cancer Registry. Men who had been categorized as being in the upper category of overweight at the time of assessment were 2.08 times more likely to get CRC than normal weight men; obese men were 2.38 times more likely to get the disease. Both of these findings were statistically significant. The researchers also determined that a high ESR was associated with a significant 63% increased risk of CRC, using a multivariable adjustment.
“While no other studies have directly addressed the association between early-life inflammation and CRC risk, evidence supports the role of inflammation early in carcinogenesis,” the researchers wrote.Another novelty of this study is that adolescents’ BMIs were measured instead of being based on recall, as they had been in other researchers’ attempts to determine the relationship between adolescent BMI and CRC risk in adulthood.
“With additional follow-up, and therefore, statistical power, future studies may address how adolescent inflammation and BMI interact to affect cancer risk. Further research is needed to better disentangle BMI and inflammation from associated exposures, and similarly, from exposures at other points in the life coarse,” the researchers wrote.
Read the full study in Gut (doi:10:1136/gutjnl-2014-309007).
In youth, hours of screen viewing is associated with severity of depression
Spending time in front of a screen may increase adolescents’ risks of suffering from depression and anxiety, according to a study of 2,482 Canadian middle and high schoolers.
To assess the mental status of the participants, the researchers used self-report questionnaires, the Children’s Depression Inventory, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-10. The more time a student spent viewing a screen was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and the severity of anxiety symptoms, after controlling for the covariates of age, sex, ethnicity, parental education, body mass index, and physical activity. More severe depressive symptoms were significantly associated with the increased amounts of time a student played video games and used a computer, but not with the hours spent watching television. The duration of video game playing also was significantly associated with more severe symptoms of anxiety.
The study’s findings suggest that “screen time may represent a risk factor for, or a marker” of depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents, according to Danijela Maras of Carleton University, Ottawa, and her colleagues. The researchers recommended that future studies determine if “reducing screen time can have a significant impact on the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression in adolescents.”
Read the full study in Preventive Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.ypmed2015.01.029).
Spending time in front of a screen may increase adolescents’ risks of suffering from depression and anxiety, according to a study of 2,482 Canadian middle and high schoolers.
To assess the mental status of the participants, the researchers used self-report questionnaires, the Children’s Depression Inventory, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-10. The more time a student spent viewing a screen was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and the severity of anxiety symptoms, after controlling for the covariates of age, sex, ethnicity, parental education, body mass index, and physical activity. More severe depressive symptoms were significantly associated with the increased amounts of time a student played video games and used a computer, but not with the hours spent watching television. The duration of video game playing also was significantly associated with more severe symptoms of anxiety.
The study’s findings suggest that “screen time may represent a risk factor for, or a marker” of depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents, according to Danijela Maras of Carleton University, Ottawa, and her colleagues. The researchers recommended that future studies determine if “reducing screen time can have a significant impact on the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression in adolescents.”
Read the full study in Preventive Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.ypmed2015.01.029).
Spending time in front of a screen may increase adolescents’ risks of suffering from depression and anxiety, according to a study of 2,482 Canadian middle and high schoolers.
To assess the mental status of the participants, the researchers used self-report questionnaires, the Children’s Depression Inventory, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-10. The more time a student spent viewing a screen was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and the severity of anxiety symptoms, after controlling for the covariates of age, sex, ethnicity, parental education, body mass index, and physical activity. More severe depressive symptoms were significantly associated with the increased amounts of time a student played video games and used a computer, but not with the hours spent watching television. The duration of video game playing also was significantly associated with more severe symptoms of anxiety.
The study’s findings suggest that “screen time may represent a risk factor for, or a marker” of depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents, according to Danijela Maras of Carleton University, Ottawa, and her colleagues. The researchers recommended that future studies determine if “reducing screen time can have a significant impact on the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression in adolescents.”
Read the full study in Preventive Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.ypmed2015.01.029).
FROM PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Incidence of first-ever bipolar diagnoses rose, researchers find
Both the incidence of bipolar disorder and the standardized mortality ratio of patients with bipolar disorder, compared with the general population, significantly increased, according to a Danish cohort study.
The study was of 15,334 patients with a first-ever diagnosis of bipolar disorder, according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria, between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2012. Patients were followed until Dec. 31, 2012, or death, whichever came first. Data came from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register, a national electronic registry containing all psychiatric hospitalizations since 1969 and all psychiatric outpatient contacts and emergency room visits since 1995. Those diagnosed with schizophrenia subsequent to being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and patients who received one of several specific ICD-8 diagnoses before 1995 (when the ICD-8 was in use) were excluded.
Bipolar disorder became significantly more common, especially throughout the 2000s. The total incidence rate was 18.5/100,000 person-years (PY) in 1995 and, at its lowest, was 14.8/100,000 PY in 1997. The most recent and highest incidence of the disorder was 28.4/100,000 PY in 2012. Such findings represent a higher incidence of bipolar disorder than was found in studies conducted in England during the same period, according to Clara Reece Medici of Aarhus University Hospital, in Risskov, Denmark, and her colleagues.
Significantly more females than males were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with 9,132 females and 6,202 males having suffered from the disease.
Mortality in patients with bipolar disorder was higher, compared with the general population, with the mean standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for patients with bipolar disorder vs. the general population having been 1.7. Deaths of the bipolar patients were mostly tied to natural causes, but as many as 9% of the bipolar patients committed suicide.
Another of the study’s findings was that age at diagnosis of bipolar disorder decreased by more than 10 years, with the average age at diagnosis having been 54.5 in 1995, compared with 42.4 in 2012. The researchers said increased awareness among clinicians may explain this, but that they will test whether “increased use of antidepressants and medication against [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder] in Denmark in the same time period may have contributed to unmasking a latent bipolar episode earlier.”
According to the researchers, “studies on lowering physical illlness in patients with bipolar disorder are needed to lower death by natural causes.”
Read the full study in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.032).
Both the incidence of bipolar disorder and the standardized mortality ratio of patients with bipolar disorder, compared with the general population, significantly increased, according to a Danish cohort study.
The study was of 15,334 patients with a first-ever diagnosis of bipolar disorder, according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria, between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2012. Patients were followed until Dec. 31, 2012, or death, whichever came first. Data came from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register, a national electronic registry containing all psychiatric hospitalizations since 1969 and all psychiatric outpatient contacts and emergency room visits since 1995. Those diagnosed with schizophrenia subsequent to being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and patients who received one of several specific ICD-8 diagnoses before 1995 (when the ICD-8 was in use) were excluded.
Bipolar disorder became significantly more common, especially throughout the 2000s. The total incidence rate was 18.5/100,000 person-years (PY) in 1995 and, at its lowest, was 14.8/100,000 PY in 1997. The most recent and highest incidence of the disorder was 28.4/100,000 PY in 2012. Such findings represent a higher incidence of bipolar disorder than was found in studies conducted in England during the same period, according to Clara Reece Medici of Aarhus University Hospital, in Risskov, Denmark, and her colleagues.
Significantly more females than males were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with 9,132 females and 6,202 males having suffered from the disease.
Mortality in patients with bipolar disorder was higher, compared with the general population, with the mean standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for patients with bipolar disorder vs. the general population having been 1.7. Deaths of the bipolar patients were mostly tied to natural causes, but as many as 9% of the bipolar patients committed suicide.
Another of the study’s findings was that age at diagnosis of bipolar disorder decreased by more than 10 years, with the average age at diagnosis having been 54.5 in 1995, compared with 42.4 in 2012. The researchers said increased awareness among clinicians may explain this, but that they will test whether “increased use of antidepressants and medication against [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder] in Denmark in the same time period may have contributed to unmasking a latent bipolar episode earlier.”
According to the researchers, “studies on lowering physical illlness in patients with bipolar disorder are needed to lower death by natural causes.”
Read the full study in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.032).
Both the incidence of bipolar disorder and the standardized mortality ratio of patients with bipolar disorder, compared with the general population, significantly increased, according to a Danish cohort study.
The study was of 15,334 patients with a first-ever diagnosis of bipolar disorder, according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria, between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2012. Patients were followed until Dec. 31, 2012, or death, whichever came first. Data came from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register, a national electronic registry containing all psychiatric hospitalizations since 1969 and all psychiatric outpatient contacts and emergency room visits since 1995. Those diagnosed with schizophrenia subsequent to being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and patients who received one of several specific ICD-8 diagnoses before 1995 (when the ICD-8 was in use) were excluded.
Bipolar disorder became significantly more common, especially throughout the 2000s. The total incidence rate was 18.5/100,000 person-years (PY) in 1995 and, at its lowest, was 14.8/100,000 PY in 1997. The most recent and highest incidence of the disorder was 28.4/100,000 PY in 2012. Such findings represent a higher incidence of bipolar disorder than was found in studies conducted in England during the same period, according to Clara Reece Medici of Aarhus University Hospital, in Risskov, Denmark, and her colleagues.
Significantly more females than males were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with 9,132 females and 6,202 males having suffered from the disease.
Mortality in patients with bipolar disorder was higher, compared with the general population, with the mean standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for patients with bipolar disorder vs. the general population having been 1.7. Deaths of the bipolar patients were mostly tied to natural causes, but as many as 9% of the bipolar patients committed suicide.
Another of the study’s findings was that age at diagnosis of bipolar disorder decreased by more than 10 years, with the average age at diagnosis having been 54.5 in 1995, compared with 42.4 in 2012. The researchers said increased awareness among clinicians may explain this, but that they will test whether “increased use of antidepressants and medication against [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder] in Denmark in the same time period may have contributed to unmasking a latent bipolar episode earlier.”
According to the researchers, “studies on lowering physical illlness in patients with bipolar disorder are needed to lower death by natural causes.”
Read the full study in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.032).
FROM JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
Silent transmission of polio could last years
Years without reports of acute flaccid paralysis – the clinical manifestation of polio – does not mean that the wild poliovirus is gone, according to a new study.
The study of the prevaccination cases of polio in the United States also has debunked the previously held belief that improvements in sanitation and hygiene fueled the spread of the disease after the mid-1940s. Instead, the new research found the surging birth rate of the post-war baby boom to have caused the steep rise in instances of polio.
The study involved the examination of monthly polio case reports that predated the introduction of the polio vaccine. The data came from the U.S. Public Health Service’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports on the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, dating from January 1931 to December 1954. The number of births by state, beginning at least as early as 1933 from Vital Statistics, and state population sizes from the population distribution branch of the U.S. Census Bureau also were examined. For exploratory analyses, the researchers quantified the relationship between disease fade-outs, which it defined as having at least 3 months without a reported infection, and population size.
The researchers used the polio data to fit and simulate mechanistic transmission models to track poliovirus and reconstruct the millions of unobserved subclinical infections that spread the disease.
“We demonstrate that you can have sustained chains of silent transmission in populations for more than 3 years, without a single person ever showing up as a reported polio case,” Micaela Martinez-Bakker, a graduate research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said in a statement.
The study showed that widespread polio transmission likely occurred during multiyear periods when no cases of the disease were reported. “We estimate that over 99% of [polio] infections were subclinical, with the reporting of total infections regularly below 1%,” said Ms. Martinez-Bakker and her colleagues. “Importantly, subclinical infections are likely more common today than in the period we studied.”
The researchers advocate for the completion of future studies using similar transmission models on how demographic and environmental factors interact with polio vaccine coverage in endemic countries.
Read the full study in PLOS Biology (2015 June 19 [doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002172]).
Years without reports of acute flaccid paralysis – the clinical manifestation of polio – does not mean that the wild poliovirus is gone, according to a new study.
The study of the prevaccination cases of polio in the United States also has debunked the previously held belief that improvements in sanitation and hygiene fueled the spread of the disease after the mid-1940s. Instead, the new research found the surging birth rate of the post-war baby boom to have caused the steep rise in instances of polio.
The study involved the examination of monthly polio case reports that predated the introduction of the polio vaccine. The data came from the U.S. Public Health Service’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports on the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, dating from January 1931 to December 1954. The number of births by state, beginning at least as early as 1933 from Vital Statistics, and state population sizes from the population distribution branch of the U.S. Census Bureau also were examined. For exploratory analyses, the researchers quantified the relationship between disease fade-outs, which it defined as having at least 3 months without a reported infection, and population size.
The researchers used the polio data to fit and simulate mechanistic transmission models to track poliovirus and reconstruct the millions of unobserved subclinical infections that spread the disease.
“We demonstrate that you can have sustained chains of silent transmission in populations for more than 3 years, without a single person ever showing up as a reported polio case,” Micaela Martinez-Bakker, a graduate research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said in a statement.
The study showed that widespread polio transmission likely occurred during multiyear periods when no cases of the disease were reported. “We estimate that over 99% of [polio] infections were subclinical, with the reporting of total infections regularly below 1%,” said Ms. Martinez-Bakker and her colleagues. “Importantly, subclinical infections are likely more common today than in the period we studied.”
The researchers advocate for the completion of future studies using similar transmission models on how demographic and environmental factors interact with polio vaccine coverage in endemic countries.
Read the full study in PLOS Biology (2015 June 19 [doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002172]).
Years without reports of acute flaccid paralysis – the clinical manifestation of polio – does not mean that the wild poliovirus is gone, according to a new study.
The study of the prevaccination cases of polio in the United States also has debunked the previously held belief that improvements in sanitation and hygiene fueled the spread of the disease after the mid-1940s. Instead, the new research found the surging birth rate of the post-war baby boom to have caused the steep rise in instances of polio.
The study involved the examination of monthly polio case reports that predated the introduction of the polio vaccine. The data came from the U.S. Public Health Service’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports on the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, dating from January 1931 to December 1954. The number of births by state, beginning at least as early as 1933 from Vital Statistics, and state population sizes from the population distribution branch of the U.S. Census Bureau also were examined. For exploratory analyses, the researchers quantified the relationship between disease fade-outs, which it defined as having at least 3 months without a reported infection, and population size.
The researchers used the polio data to fit and simulate mechanistic transmission models to track poliovirus and reconstruct the millions of unobserved subclinical infections that spread the disease.
“We demonstrate that you can have sustained chains of silent transmission in populations for more than 3 years, without a single person ever showing up as a reported polio case,” Micaela Martinez-Bakker, a graduate research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said in a statement.
The study showed that widespread polio transmission likely occurred during multiyear periods when no cases of the disease were reported. “We estimate that over 99% of [polio] infections were subclinical, with the reporting of total infections regularly below 1%,” said Ms. Martinez-Bakker and her colleagues. “Importantly, subclinical infections are likely more common today than in the period we studied.”
The researchers advocate for the completion of future studies using similar transmission models on how demographic and environmental factors interact with polio vaccine coverage in endemic countries.
Read the full study in PLOS Biology (2015 June 19 [doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002172]).
FROM PLOS BIOLOGY
MDD tied to lower bone mineral density in men
In men, major depressive disorder has a negative impact on bone mineral density, a cross-sectional study shows.
The study included 928 men, aged 24-98. Each study participant’s ultradistal forearm, lumbar spine, total hip, and total body bone mineral density (BMD) (g/cm2) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Clinicians queried patients on their history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether they were currently using antidepressants. Of the study population, 84 (9.1%) had a single manic episode, 50 (5.4%) had recurrent (at least two ) manic episodes, and 65 (7.0%) were using antidepressants.
Study participants with recurrent MDD had lower forearm, total hip, lumbar spine, and total body BMDs than study participants who had one manic episode or had no history of MDD. After age and weight adjustments, recurrent MDD was significantly associated with lower forearm and total body BMDs, with forearm BMDs having been 6.5% lower and total body BMDs having been 2.5% lower in study participants with recurrent MDD than in those with no history of MDD.
Those men who had experienced a single manic episode actually had higher forearm, total hip, and total body BMDs than men with no history of MDD. Also, single-episode MDD was positively associated with total hip BMD – a finding that Paivi H. Rauma, a PhD student and researcher at University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, and her colleagues said they could not explain.
Among the study’s other results was that antidepressant use was associated with lower BMD for the men studied with the lowest body weights (between 75 kg and 110 kg).
“We found that MDD and antidepressant use were independently associated with BMD; however, separation of these two issues is difficult,” the researchers wrote. “In all, prevention of depression, its early detection, and appropriate medical care are important issues in the prevention and care of osteoporosis in men. Lastly, these data raise the issue of screening for BMD in risk populations.”
Read the full study in Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions.
In men, major depressive disorder has a negative impact on bone mineral density, a cross-sectional study shows.
The study included 928 men, aged 24-98. Each study participant’s ultradistal forearm, lumbar spine, total hip, and total body bone mineral density (BMD) (g/cm2) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Clinicians queried patients on their history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether they were currently using antidepressants. Of the study population, 84 (9.1%) had a single manic episode, 50 (5.4%) had recurrent (at least two ) manic episodes, and 65 (7.0%) were using antidepressants.
Study participants with recurrent MDD had lower forearm, total hip, lumbar spine, and total body BMDs than study participants who had one manic episode or had no history of MDD. After age and weight adjustments, recurrent MDD was significantly associated with lower forearm and total body BMDs, with forearm BMDs having been 6.5% lower and total body BMDs having been 2.5% lower in study participants with recurrent MDD than in those with no history of MDD.
Those men who had experienced a single manic episode actually had higher forearm, total hip, and total body BMDs than men with no history of MDD. Also, single-episode MDD was positively associated with total hip BMD – a finding that Paivi H. Rauma, a PhD student and researcher at University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, and her colleagues said they could not explain.
Among the study’s other results was that antidepressant use was associated with lower BMD for the men studied with the lowest body weights (between 75 kg and 110 kg).
“We found that MDD and antidepressant use were independently associated with BMD; however, separation of these two issues is difficult,” the researchers wrote. “In all, prevention of depression, its early detection, and appropriate medical care are important issues in the prevention and care of osteoporosis in men. Lastly, these data raise the issue of screening for BMD in risk populations.”
Read the full study in Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions.
In men, major depressive disorder has a negative impact on bone mineral density, a cross-sectional study shows.
The study included 928 men, aged 24-98. Each study participant’s ultradistal forearm, lumbar spine, total hip, and total body bone mineral density (BMD) (g/cm2) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Clinicians queried patients on their history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether they were currently using antidepressants. Of the study population, 84 (9.1%) had a single manic episode, 50 (5.4%) had recurrent (at least two ) manic episodes, and 65 (7.0%) were using antidepressants.
Study participants with recurrent MDD had lower forearm, total hip, lumbar spine, and total body BMDs than study participants who had one manic episode or had no history of MDD. After age and weight adjustments, recurrent MDD was significantly associated with lower forearm and total body BMDs, with forearm BMDs having been 6.5% lower and total body BMDs having been 2.5% lower in study participants with recurrent MDD than in those with no history of MDD.
Those men who had experienced a single manic episode actually had higher forearm, total hip, and total body BMDs than men with no history of MDD. Also, single-episode MDD was positively associated with total hip BMD – a finding that Paivi H. Rauma, a PhD student and researcher at University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, and her colleagues said they could not explain.
Among the study’s other results was that antidepressant use was associated with lower BMD for the men studied with the lowest body weights (between 75 kg and 110 kg).
“We found that MDD and antidepressant use were independently associated with BMD; however, separation of these two issues is difficult,” the researchers wrote. “In all, prevention of depression, its early detection, and appropriate medical care are important issues in the prevention and care of osteoporosis in men. Lastly, these data raise the issue of screening for BMD in risk populations.”
Read the full study in Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions.
FDA tells food producers to cut the trans fat
Food manufacturers will no longer be allowed to include partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in human food when a new requirement by the Food and Drug Administration becomes effective.
The FDA finalized its determination that PHOs, which are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food. This action was preceded by the FDA having requested comment on a tentative version of the determination in a Nov. 8, 2013 notice.
“This determination is based on extensive research into the effects of PHOs, as well as input from all stakeholders received during the public comment period,” said Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in a written statement.
The order follows the FDA’s requirement that food manufacturers include trans fat content information on nutrition facts labels, which became effective in 2006. Currently, the FDA allows companies to state on the labels of foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving that such foods are made with 0 grams of trans fat.
The FDA’s new requirement “is expected to reduce coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year,” said the FDA’s Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff in the written statement.
The agency is giving food producers 3 years to remove PHOs from their products and/or petition the FDA to permit specific uses of PHOs. A notice of the order is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow (June 17, 2015).
Food manufacturers will no longer be allowed to include partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in human food when a new requirement by the Food and Drug Administration becomes effective.
The FDA finalized its determination that PHOs, which are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food. This action was preceded by the FDA having requested comment on a tentative version of the determination in a Nov. 8, 2013 notice.
“This determination is based on extensive research into the effects of PHOs, as well as input from all stakeholders received during the public comment period,” said Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in a written statement.
The order follows the FDA’s requirement that food manufacturers include trans fat content information on nutrition facts labels, which became effective in 2006. Currently, the FDA allows companies to state on the labels of foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving that such foods are made with 0 grams of trans fat.
The FDA’s new requirement “is expected to reduce coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year,” said the FDA’s Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff in the written statement.
The agency is giving food producers 3 years to remove PHOs from their products and/or petition the FDA to permit specific uses of PHOs. A notice of the order is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow (June 17, 2015).
Food manufacturers will no longer be allowed to include partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in human food when a new requirement by the Food and Drug Administration becomes effective.
The FDA finalized its determination that PHOs, which are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food. This action was preceded by the FDA having requested comment on a tentative version of the determination in a Nov. 8, 2013 notice.
“This determination is based on extensive research into the effects of PHOs, as well as input from all stakeholders received during the public comment period,” said Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in a written statement.
The order follows the FDA’s requirement that food manufacturers include trans fat content information on nutrition facts labels, which became effective in 2006. Currently, the FDA allows companies to state on the labels of foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving that such foods are made with 0 grams of trans fat.
The FDA’s new requirement “is expected to reduce coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year,” said the FDA’s Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff in the written statement.
The agency is giving food producers 3 years to remove PHOs from their products and/or petition the FDA to permit specific uses of PHOs. A notice of the order is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow (June 17, 2015).
