Health Updates

• New research seems to show women who have their children later in life live longer. But the benefit seems to be good genes and not related to the childbearing itself. In a sample of 14,123 Utah women, those who had their last child between age 41-44 were 6% less likely to die after 50 than women who had children earlier. For those who had a child at 45 or later, the risk was 14% lower. The advantage did not apply to women who had fertility treatments, and seemed to carry over to their brothers (though not their brothers’ wives).

• In other news relating to women’s health, A study of 120,755 postmenopausal women found no increased risk of breast cancer among those who are meat. The study took into account all kinds of meat (red vs. white), levels of doneness and cooking temperature.

• According to a new study from the Spanish National Research Council, a gluten-free diet may be detrimental to “gut health,” a worrisome development for the body’s immune system. Allergic reactions to wheat and what by-products have fueled the growth of the gluten-free market, which has grown at an average annual rate of 28% for the past four years, reaching $1.56bn in 2008 (estimates show sales topping $2.6bn by 2012)but loss of the beneficial Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, along with increases in the problematical Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli (e.Coli) have scientists concerned. Coeliac disease, an intolerance to gluten in wheat, reportedly troubles 1% of children and 1.2% of adults. There is no known solution to the intolerance other than avoiding wheat in the diet. Probiotics and other “gut enhancing” products have been popular in Europe for some time, and are just catching on in the U.S. (e.g., Danone’s Activia yogurt).

• Meanwhile concerns about the nutritional shortcomings of gluten-free products have been voiced by Harvard Medical School. Gluten substitutes typically derive their starch from rice, corn or potatoes. The gluten-free market, currently at $1.56bn, is estimated to reach $2.6bn by 2012 and is growing at an annual rate of 28%. Statistics show only 40-60K Americans have been diagnosed with celiac disease, the auto-immune condition triggered by gluten in the diet, but the U.S. government projects up to 3MM are undiagnosed (1% of the total populace).

• Bad news—according to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, only 7.9% of adult Americans are eating dry beans or peas on any day. Eating ½ cup of dry beans or peas not only assures higher intake of fiber, but also protein, folate (important to pregnant women), zinc, iron and magnesium. The beans and peas also lower the intake of saturated fats and total fats. Now, if they could just find a way to eat the damn things without a ½ gallon of water…

• Another nail in the coffin for the chemical bisphenol A or BPA has come from a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study confirming it can leach from polycarbonate drinking bottles into humans. The chemical industry has either denied this or insisted the amounts were trivial. Participants who drank for a week from a polycarbonate bottle showed a 2/3 increase of BPA in their urine. BPA is used to make polycarbonate and other plastics, and has been mentioned as a possible contributor to heart disease, diabetes and disruption of the reproductive organs in animals and humans. It is used in reusable drinking bottles, baby bottles and sipper cups, as well as dentistry composites and sealants, and in the lining of aluminum food and beverage cans. The leader of the study expressed concern that heating baby bottles would increase the level of leaching. In 2008 Canada banned the use of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles, and some manufacturers have voluntarily eliminated BPA.

• The furor over BPA is getting ugly as a Milwaukee Sentinel article published a memorandum from a closed-door meeting of manufacturers, metal industry trade association members and lobbyists where it was suggested a “pregnant woman” be chosen as the spokesperson for BPA. Those in favor of finding a reputable scientist to act as a spokesperson for the chemical’s use in assuring a sterile can lining were told no scientists would agree to speak up for BPA. The North American Metal Packaging Alliance (NAMPA) insisted after the article’s publication that they had not attended in order to “whitewash” the chemical, and claimed the vital service BPA provides in assuring the safety of canned foods & beverages is being overlooked by an “hysterical” media. In addition to choosing a pregnant woman to front pro-BPA media ads, the group suggested claiming the poor and ethnic minorities would feel the greatest impact from a BPA ban since they eat more canned foods. Meanwhile in response to growing Congressional pressure and the passage of BPA bans in Chicago and by the Minnesota state legislature, the FDA announced it will rule shortly on whether its ruling of “safe” last year for the substance would stand. Critics have insisted the agency was overly influenced by chemicals industry-financed research and did not take into account neutral studies showing potential impact on humans.

• Walgreen and the State of Delaware are heading for a confrontation following the chain’s vow to end filling state Medicaid prescriptions. The chain claims it handles over 60% of Medicaid prescriptions, and is losing money on every one, especially given Delaware’s low usage of generic alternatives (63%, among the worst in the nation). But with Delaware’s House and Senate health committees threatening to end Walgreen’s $44.4MM in state employee health-plan prescription business, things could get ugly quickly.

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