Improving on nature, U.S. scientists say they've designed laboratory rats that can tell us more about how declining post-menopausal estrogen levels affect hypertension, heart failure and kidney damage.
As well as being sensitive to the effects of estrogen, these specially bred rats are also sensitive to salt, another key player in hypertension and stroke.
"By changing a single gene that is involved in hypertension, varying effects were revealed that we never expected," Mark Chappell, senior researcher in the Hypertension and Vascular Disease Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.
"These rats will allow us to study salt-sensitivity in hypertension as well as explore how estrogen depletion affects several body systems," he added. "And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We're just starting to discover what this animal model can teach us."
Research by Chappell and his colleagues were to be presented this week at a meeting of the American Heart Association, in Washington, D.C.
"These projects suggest that estrogen may be protective, no only in renal function and development of hypertension, but in heart function. Next, we will look at different therapies, including different formulations of estrogen that may lack some of the deleterious side effects associated with estrogen therapy," Chappell said.
More information
The National Library of Medicine has more about estrogen.
In this week's issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers offer a state-by-state report card on the food offered in school snack bars and in vending machines.
"We surveyed a sample of middle school and high schools, in 27 states and 11 large urban areas," said Howell Wechsler, acting director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health.
Wechsler's team found that most schools allow students to buy snack foods and drinks from vending machines and school stores. "We found that most of them sell foods that would be considered non-nutritious," he said.
A recent report by the Government Accountability Office found that nine out of every 10 schools sell so-called competitive foods in snack bars and vending machines.
According to the CDC report, there are major differences between the states and cities in the amount of junk food available in schools. Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Texas are at the top of the list in reducing the amount of junk foods sold in their schools, Wechsler said. Among states that offer the most of junk food are Oklahoma, Utah and Washington.
For instance, 18.5 percent of Oklahoma schools offer fruits and vegetables, while 88.9 percent offer chocolate candy. In Connecticut, 57.8 percent of schools offer fruits and vegetables, while 38.3 percent make chocolate candy available.
"When you talk to schools, they say it's very hard to stop selling these foods because of financial problems," Wechsler said. Schools see selling snacks, candy and drinks as a major source of income for school supplies, field trips and other activities, he added.
But the reality is that those financial pressures are the same in every state, he noted. "And yet there are some states where almost all of the schools are selling non-nutritious beverage or snack items and there are other states where not even a majority of schools are selling those items."
That shows that selling non-nutritious snacks is not about need, Wechsler said. "It's about leadership and what your priorities are," he said. "No one is trying to outlaw vending machines, no one is saying that schools shouldn't be making revenue from this. The purpose is to give young people an environment in which it's easier to make the healthy choices."
There's no sense in having children take nutrition classes and then be confronted with high fat, high salt and high sugar foods in the school hall, Wechsler said. "Someone may think that this is the quickest and easiest way to make a buck for a school program, but it's contradictory to how we are trying to get children to lead their lives."
Schools and parents should be working together to improve school nutrition, Wechsler said. "A lot of parents do work hard to feed their children properly," he said. "Then the children get to school and there's all this junk food all around them."
On the positive side, Wechsler said, leadership has made a difference in many schools with many states doing better than other states. "Schools are about education, and teaching our kids about how to lead healthy lives is among the most important things we can educate them on."
One expert thinks there's plenty that parents can do to get schools to offer healthy foods in snack bars and vending machines.
"We know our children are getting fat," said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center. "It's not their choice -- they're children. Parents, the community and schools have to take responsibility."
Parents should get involved with their schools and insist on healthy food options, Heller said. According to studies, schools that have improved their food choices have not lost income because of it, she said, adding, "Using that as an excuse is not true."
Another expert offered the example of a world in which children were encouraged, but not required, to attend school -- and then offered alternatives each day, such as a trip to the circus, beach, or zoo.
"How many would do the 'right thing' and attend school? Why, in fact, do we require school attendance? Don't we trust children, and their parents, to make the prudent choice?" said Dr. David L. Katz, the associate director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
"Odd as it may seem to recommend school attendance then tempt children away, that is exactly what we do with children's nutrition," Katz said. "We teach children what good nutrition is, and then tempt them away from it by surrounding them with tasty alternatives."
"Unless we are inclined to treat children's minds the way we treat their bodies, and entice them to opt out of school, perhaps we should do the opposite, and start treating food more like we treat food for thought," Katz said. "Let us create school environments that foster healthy development of our children's bodies, and minds."
More information
The U.S. Department of Agriculture can tell you more about how kids can eat a healthful diet.
Before you start a daily dose of aspirin to lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke, you should speak to your doctor, advises the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
While aspirin can help prevent a heart attack or clot-related stroke by lowering the clotting action of the blood's platelets, it can also cause unwanted side effects. These include stomach bleeding, bleeding in the brain, and kidney failure.
Aspirin can also mix badly with other medicines, vitamins and herbal or dietary supplements.
If your doctor has recommended you take a daily dose of aspirin, discuss any potentially dangerous side effects first.
Health Tip: Quitting Smoking
September 22, 2005 08:41:11 PM PST
Ex-smokers will tell you that quitting was one of the hardest things they've ever done. The physical and psychological withdrawal can be intense.
If you're thinking of "butting out," the U.S. Surgeon General offers these tips to help you handle the cravings:
- Drink lots of liquids, especially water.
- Avoid sugar and fatty foods, and don't skip meals.
- Exercise regularly and moderately.
- Get more sleep.
- Take deep breaths when cravings hit.
- Change your habits. For example, eat breakfast in a different place, or take a different route to work.
- Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, read a book, or exercise.
