The Polymeal: a more natural, safer, and probably tastier (than the Polypill) strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease by more than 75%.
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OBJECTIVE: Although the Polypill concept (proposed in 2003) is promising in terms of benefits for cardiovascular risk management, the potential costs and adverse effects are its main pitfalls. The objective of this study was to identify a tastier and safer alternative to the Polypill: the Polymeal. METHODS: Data on the ingredients of the Polymeal were taken from the literature. The evidence based recipe included wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruits, vegetables, garlic, and almonds. Data from the Framingham heart study and the Framingham offspring study were used to build life tables to model the benefits of the Polymeal in the general population from age 50, assuming multiplicative correlations. RESULTS: Combining the ingredients of the Polymeal would reduce cardiovascular disease events by 76%. For men, taking the Polymeal daily represented an increase in total life expectancy of 6.6 years, an increase in life expectancy free from cardiovascular disease of 9.0 years, and a decrease in life expectancy with cardiovascular disease of 2.4 years. The corresponding differences for women were 4.8, 8.1, and 3.3 years. CONCLUSION: The Polymeal promises to be an effective, non-pharmacological, safe, cheap, and tasty alternative to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and increase life expectancy in the general population. (+info)
Taste responses in patients with Parkinson's disease.
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OBJECTIVE: Preclinical studies indicate that dopaminergic transmission in the basal ganglia may be involved in processing of both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. Given this, the aim of the present study was to assess taste responses to sweet, bitter, sour, and salty substances in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Rated intensity and pleasantness of filter paper discs soaked in sucrose (10-60%), quinine (0.025-0.5%), citric acid (0.25-4.0%), or sodium chloride (1.25-20%) solutions was evaluated in 30 patients with PD and in 33 healthy controls. Paper discs soaked in deionised water served as control stimuli. In addition, reactivity to 100 ml samples of chocolate and vanilla milk was assessed in both groups. Taste detection thresholds were assessed by means of electrogustometry. Sociodemographic and neuropsychiatric data, including cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, tea and coffee drinking, depressive symptoms, and cognitive functioning were collected. RESULTS: In general, perceived intensity, pleasantness, and identification of the sucrose, quinine, citric acid, or sodium chloride samples did not differ between the PD patients and controls. Intensity ratings of the filter papers soaked in 0.025% quinine were significantly higher in the PD patients compared with the control group. No inter-group differences were found in taste responses to chocolate and vanilla milk. Electrogustometric thresholds were significantly (p = 0.001) more sensitive in the PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: PD is not associated with any major alterations in responses to pleasant or unpleasant taste stimuli. Patients with PD may present enhanced taste acuity in terms of electrogustometric threshold. (+info)
Cocoa antioxidants and cardiovascular health.
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An increasing body of epidemiologic evidence supports the concept that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can promote health and attenuate, or delay, the onset of various diseases. Epidemiologic data support the idea that these health benefits are causally linked to the consumption of certain flavonoids present in fruit and vegetables. In the context of cardiovascular health, a particular group of flavonoids, namely, the flavan-3-ols (flavanols), has received attention. Flavanol-rich, plant-derived foods and beverages include wine, tea, and various fruits and berries, as well as cocoa and cocoa products. Numerous dietary intervention studies in humans and animals indicate that flavanol-rich foods and beverages might exert cardioprotective effects with respect to vascular function and platelet reactivity. This review discusses the bioactivity of flavanols in the context of cardiovascular health, with respect to their bioavailability, their antioxidant properties, and their vascular effects. (+info)
Cocoa polyphenols and inflammatory mediators.
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Cocoa products are sources of flavan-3-ols, which have attracted interest regarding cardiovascular health. This review provides a survey of our research on the effects of cocoa polyphenols on leukotriene and nitric oxide (NO) metabolism and on myeloperoxidase-induced modification of LDL. Because intake of flavonoid-rich chocolate by human subjects was reported to decrease the plasma concentrations of proinflammatory cysteinyl leukotrienes, we assessed whether cocoa polyphenols inhibited human 5-lipoxygenase, the key enzyme of leukotriene synthesis. (-)-Epicatechin and other cocoa flavan-3-ols proved to be inhibitory at the enzyme level. This action may confer antileukotriene action in vivo. In a double-blind crossover study, 20 individuals at risk for cardiovascular diseases received cocoa beverages with high or low contents of flavan-3-ols. NO-dependent, flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery and concentrations of nitroso compounds in plasma were measured, and it was shown that ingestion of the high-flavanol coca drink but not the low-flavanol cocoa drink significantly increased plasma concentrations of nitroso compounds and flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery. Therefore, ingested flavonoids may reverse endothelial dysfunction through enhancement of NO bioactivity. Oxidative modification of LDL appears to be crucial for atherogenesis, and one of the mediators is the proinflammatory proatherogenic enzyme myeloperoxidase. Micromolar concentrations of (-)-epicatechin or other flavonoids were found to suppress lipid peroxidation in LDL induced by myeloperoxidase in the presence of physiologically relevant concentrations of nitrite, an NO metabolite. Adverse effects of NO metabolites, such as nitrite and peroxynitrite, were thus attenuated. (+info)
Biochemical changes during the development of witches' broom: the most important disease of cocoa in Brazil caused by Crinipellis perniciosa.
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Witches' broom disease (WBD) is caused by the hemibiotrophic basidiomycete fungus Crinipellis perniciosa, which is one of the most important diseases of cocoa in the western hemisphere. In this study, the contents of soluble sugars, amino acids, alkaloids, ethylene, phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, pigments, malondialdehyde (MDA), glycerol, and fatty acids were analysed in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) shoots during the infection and development of WBD. Alterations were observed in the content of soluble sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose), asparagine and alkaloids (caffeine and theobromine), ethylene, and tannins. Ethylene and tannins increased prior to symptom development and declined with the death of the infected tissues. Furthermore, MDA and glycerol concentrations were higher in infected tissue than in the controls, while fatty acid composition changed in the infected tissues. Chlorophylls a and b were lower throughout the development of the disease while carotenoids and xanthophylls dropped in the infected tissue by the time of symptom development. These results show co-ordinated biochemical alterations in the infected tissues, indicating major stress responses with the production of ethylene. Ethylene levels are hypothesized to play a key role in broom development. Some of the other biochemical alterations are directly associated with ethylene synthesis and may be important for the modification of its effect on the infected tissues. (+info)
A systematic review of the evidence for 'myths and misconceptions' in acne management: diet, face-washing and sunlight.
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BACKGROUND: Lay perceptions that diet, hygiene and sunlight exposure are strongly associated with acne causation and exacerbation are common but at variance with the consensus of current dermatological opinion. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to carry out a review of the literature to assess the evidence for diet, face-washing and sunlight exposure in acne management. METHODS: Original studies were identified by searches of the Medline, EMBASE, AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine), CINAHL, Cochrane, and DARE databases. Methodological information was extracted from identified articles but, given the paucity of high quality studies found, no studies were excluded from the review on methodological grounds. RESULTS: Given the prevalence of lay perceptions, and the confidence of dermatological opinion in rebutting these perceptions as myths and misconceptions, surprisingly little evidence exists for the efficacy or lack of efficacy of dietary factors, face-washing and sunlight exposure in the management of acne. Much of the available evidence has methodological limitations. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the present state of evidence, clinicians cannot be didactic in their recommendations regarding diet, hygiene and face-washing, and sunlight to patients with acne. Advice should be individualized, and both clinician and patient cognizant of its limitations. (+info)
International outbreak of Salmonella Oranienburg due to German chocolate.
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BACKGROUND: This report describes a large international chocolate-associated Salmonella outbreak originating from Germany. METHODS: We conducted epidemiologic investigations including a case-control study, and food safety investigations. Salmonella (S.) Oranienburg isolates were subtyped by the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: From 1 October 2001 through 24 March 2002, an estimated excess of 439 S. Oranienburg notifications was registered in Germany. Simultaneously, an increase in S. Oranienburg infections was noted in other European countries in the Enter-net surveillance network. In a multistate matched case-control study in Germany, daily consumption of chocolate (matched odds ratio [MOR]: 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-26.5), having shopped at a large chain of discount grocery stores (MOR: 4.2; CI: 1.2-23.0), and consumption of chocolate purchased there (MOR: 5.0; CI: 1.1-47.0) were associated with illness. Subsequently, two brands from the same company, one exclusively produced for that chain, tested positive for S. Oranienburg. In two other European countries and in Canada chocolate from company A was ascertained that also contained S. Oranienburg. Isolates from humans and from chocolates had indistinguishable PFGE profiles. No source or point of contamination was identified. Epidemiological identification of chocolate as a vehicle of infections required two months, and was facilitated by proxy measures. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the use of improved production technologies, the chocolate industry continues to carry a small risk of manufacturing Salmonella-containing products. Particularly in diffuse outbreak-settings, clear associations with surrogates of exposure should suffice to trigger public health action. Networks such as Enter-net have become invaluable for facilitating rapid and appropriate management of international outbreaks. (+info)
Flavanols and platelet reactivity.
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Platelet activity and platelet-endothelial cell interactions are important in the acute development of thrombosis, as well as in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. An increasing number of foods have been reported to have platelet-inhibitory actions, and research with a number of flavanol-rich foods, including, grape juice, cocoa and chocolate, suggests that these foods may provide some protection against thrombosis. In the present report, we review a series of in vivo studies on the effects of flavanol-rich cocoa and chocolate on platelet activation and platelet-dependent primary hemostasis. Consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa inhibited several measures of platelet activity including, epinephrine- and ADP-induced glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa and P-Selectin expression, platelet microparticle formation, and epinephrine-collagen and ADP-collagen induced primary hemostasis. The epinephrine-induced inhibitory effects on GP IIb/IIIa and primary hemostasis were similar to, though less robust than those associated with the use of low dose (81 mg) aspirin. These data, coupled with information from other studies, support the concept that flavanols present in cocoa and chocolate can modulate platelet function through a multitude of pathways. (+info)