Why Some Fats Are Worse Than Others

 

diagram of a human digestive system (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

From the 29 August 2012 article at Medical News Today

 

All dietary fats are not created equal. Some types of fats have been linked to ailments like heart disease and diabetes, while others, like those often found in plants and fish, have well documented health benefits.

So why do our bodies respond so destructively to some fats but not others?

A new hypothesis described in latest issue of The Quarterly Review of Biologysuggests the answer may lie in how different fats interact with the microbes in our guts. According to researchers from the University of New Mexico and Northwestern University, some fats may encourage the growth of harmful bacteria in the digestive system. Our bodies have evolved to recognize those fats and launch an immune response to preempt the impeding changes in harmful bacteria. The result is low-levelinflammation that, over the long term, causes chronic disease.

“Although the inflammatory effects of [fats] are well documented, it is less well appreciated that they also influence bacterial survival and proliferation in the gastrointestinal tract,” write the researchers, led by Joe Alcock, of the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine and VA Medical Center.

Some fats – mostly unsaturated fats – actually have strong antimicrobial properties. They react chemically with bacterial cell membranes, weakening them. “If you expose unsaturated fats on bacteria, the bacteria have a tendency to lyse. The combination of long chain unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, and innate host defenses like gastric acid and antimicrobial peptides, is particularly lethal to pathogenic bacteria,” Alcock said. Saturated fats on the other hand generally lack those antimicrobial properties, and in fact can provide a carbon source that bacteria need to grow and flourish….

 

Related articles

• Saturated Fats encourage the growth and invasiveness of harmful microbiota: Unsaturated fats – actually have strong antimicrobial properties (engineeringevil.com)
• Why Some Fats May Cause Heart Disease (personalliberty.com)

 

Fast Tests Are Latest Weapons Against Infections

Janice Carr/CDC  A new lab test could quickly detect methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, bacteria like these in the blood.

From the 29 June 2012 article at National Public Radio (NPR)

Show up at the emergency room or your doctor’s office with symptoms of a serious infection, and there’s a good chance you’ll get an antibiotic. You might even get a few.

But antibiotics don’t work on viruses. And a particular antibiotic may be suited for one kind of germ, but not another.

The problem for your doctor — and you — is that it can take days to grow enough of the germs afflicting you to identify them conclusively using traditional tests. And if you’re really sick, the doctor may try a bunch of antibiotics right away, just to be sure one of them starts getting you back on the road to health….

…

Faster, more specific tests would help. And the Food and Drug Administration has recently approved some. This week, while you might have been distracted by the Supreme Court, the agency cleared a test for a dozen bacteria that cause infections in the blood.

“Bloodstream infections are always treated with antimicrobial drugs, and it is essential to identify which antimicrobial drug is appropriate for a specific patient as quickly as possible,” FDA’s Alberto Gutierrez said in a statement. “This new test is an important tool that will help physicians treat patients quickly with the correct antibiotics.”

The test, made by Nanosphere, works in a few hours instead of days. It fingerprints the germs’ DNA and can even detect when the bugs carry genes that render them resistant to some antibiotics. The test costs less than $100….

Related articles

• Fast Tests Are Latest Weapons Against Infections (wnyc.org)
• FDA Approves Bloodstream Bacteria Test (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Germs Behind Urinary Tract Infections Becoming More Resistant to Drugs (nlm.nih.gov)
• Antibiotics binge helping superbugs spread (abc.net.au)
• WHO demands action on drug-resistant gonorrhoea (newscientist.com)

Hygiene Habit Review Time & How to be Safe Around Animals

With the weather getting warmer (at least here in America’s Midwest), more people will be spending more time outside.
This might be a good time to review good hygiene habits.

Here are some great places to start.

• Nail hygiene is important for gardeners and anyone planning to get down and dirty with Mother Nature.
  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some nail hygiene advice including
• Avoid cutting cuticles, as they act as barriers to prevent infection.
• Never rip or bite a hangnail. Instead, clip it with a clean, sanitized nail trimmer.
• Going swimming in a neighborhood or other area pool? Take steps to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses
• Don’t swim when you have diarrhea. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.
• Don’t swallow the pool water. Avoid getting water in your mouth.
• Practice good hygiene. Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.
• Keep your body as clean as possible. The CDC has a great interactive human body diagram with links to preventative advice.
  Click here for additional tips on facial cleanliness.
• Planning on being around animals at the zoo, at a farm, or at someone’s house or campsite?
  Check out Proper Hygiene Around Animals with parenting tips (many useful for adults also!) that discourage these activities around animals
• Eating or drinking
• The use of strollers, toys, pacifiers, baby bottles, or spill-proof cups
• Hand-to-mouth behaviors, such as thumb-sucking and nail-biting
• Sitting or playing on the ground
• Feeding the animals, unless the contact is controlled with barriers
• Any contact with animals if an individual has open wounds
• Contact with any animal waste

Related Resources

Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings, 2011 (National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc. (NASPHV))

While not aimed to the general public, it does include some good tips, as

Animal Areas

• Do not allow food and beverages in animal areas.
• Do not allow toys, pacifiers, spill-proof cups, baby bottles, strollers or similar items in animal areas.
• Prohibit smoking and other tobacco product use in animal areas.
• Supervise children closely to discourage hand-to-mouth activities (e.g., nail-biting and thumb-sucking), contact with manure, and contact with soiled bedding. Children should not be allowed to sit or play on the ground in animal areas. If hands become soiled, supervise hand washing immediately.
• Ensure that regular animal feed and water are not accessible to the public.
• Allow the public to feed animals only if contact with animals is controlled (e.g., with barriers).
• Do not provide animal feed in containers that can be eaten by humans (e.g., ice cream cones) to decrease the risk for children eating food that has come into contact with animals.

Natural Unseen Hazards Blog – news about natural unseen hazards that may place outdoor enthusiasts at risk

Related articles

• A Guide to Good Personal Hygiene (everydayhealth.com)
• Swimmer’s Ear Responsible for Nearly a Half Billion in Health Care Costs (cdc.com)
• 5 men’s hygiene facts you won’t believe (holykaw.alltop.com)

The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations With the Greatest Burden on Public Health

From Ranking the Risks : The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations With the Greatest Burden on Public Health

Thursday, April 28, 2011 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Researchers at the University of FloridaEmerging Pathogens Institute have identified the Top 10 riskiest combinations of foods and disease-causing microorganisms, providing an important tool for food safety officials charged with protecting consumers from these costly and potentially life-threatening bugs.

The report, “Ranking the Risks: The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations with the Greatest Burden on Public Health,” lists the number of illnesses, costs, and overall public health burden of specific microbes in particular types of food –such as Salmonella in poultry and Listeria in deli meat. This is the first comprehensive ranking of pathogen-food combinations that has been computed for the United States.

Millions of Americans get food poisoning each year and thousands die. Federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and more than 3,000 state and local governments are charged with protecting consumers from these risks, but their efforts often are fragmented and uncoordinated.

[Click here for more of the press release, the report, a video, and an accompanying interview]

These Top-10 pathogen-food combinations cause the greatest burden to the public health 

• Campylobacter in Poultry costs $1.3 billion and causes a loss of 9500 QALYs (Quality Adjusted Life Years)
• ToxoplaSma in Pork costs $1.2 billion and causes a loss of 4500 QALYs
• LiSteria in Deli Meats costs $1.1 billion and causes a loss of 4000 QALYs
• Salmonella in Poultry costs $700 million and causes a loss of 3600 QALYs
• LiSteria in Dairy Products costs $700 million and causes a loss of 2600 QALYs
• Salmonella in Complex Foods costs $600 million and causes a loss of 3200 QALYs
• NoroviruS in Complex Foods costs $900 million and causes a loss of 2300 QALYs
• Salmonella in Produce costs $500 million and causes a loss of 2800 QALYs
• ToxoplaSma in Beef costs $700 million and causes a loss of 2500 QALYs
• Salmonella in Eggs costs $400 million and causes a loss of 1900 QALYs

Related Articles

• 80% of chickens in local grocery stores test positive for pathogens (thenewstribune.com)
• Cross-contamination versus undercooking of poultry meat or eggs – which risks need to be managed first? (foodhygiene2010.wordpress.com)
• Food-borne diseases – the challenges of 20 years ago still persist while new ones continue to emerge (foodhygiene2010.wordpress.com)
• More Dollars Per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) Versus Savings From Care Management: How Can The Studies Be Reconciled? (diseasemanagementcareblog.blogspot.com)
• A global view on effectiveness research (kevinmd.com)

Infections in ICUs Plummeting, Too Many Remain in Hospitals and Dialysis Clinics

Infections in ICUs Plummeting, Too Many Remain in Hospitals and Dialysis Clinics

http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/p0301_vitalsigns.html

ICUs show that preventing infections is possible; other health care settings must adopt prevention practices

From the press release

The number of bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients with central lines decreased by 58 percent in 2009 compared to 2001, according to a new CDC Vital Signs report. During these nine years, the decrease represented up to 27,000 lives saved and $1.8 billion in excess health care costs. Bloodstream infections in patients with central lines can be deadly, killing as many as 1 in 4 patients who gets one….

…

“Preventing bloodstream infections is not only possible, it should be expected. Meticulous insertion and care of the central line by all members of the clinical care team including doctors, nurses and others at the bedside is essential. The next step is to apply what we’ve learned from this to other health care settings and other health care-associated conditions, so that all patients are protected,” said Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., CDC director.

In addition to the ICU findings, the report found that about 60,000 bloodstream infections in patients with central lines occurred in non-ICU health care settings such as hospital wards and kidney dialysis clinics. About 23,000 of these occurred in non-ICU patients (2009) and about 37,000 infections occurred in dialysis clinics patients (2008).

“This reduction is the result of hospital, local, state and national medical and public health efforts focused on tracking infection rates and then using that information to tailor and evaluate prevention programs,” said Denise Cardo, M.D., director of CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. “The report findings point to a clear need for action beyond ICUs. Fortunately, we have a prevention model focused on full collaboration that can be applied broadly to maximize prevention efforts.”

Infections are one of the leading causes of hospitalization and death for hemodialysis patients. At any given time, about 350,000 people are receiving hemodialysis treatment for kidney failure. Seven in 10 patients who receive dialysis begin that treatment through a central line….

Related Articles

• Patient Safety Awareness Week 3: Positive News on Infections, More Work Needed (hcfama.org)
• Rates of Pneumonia Dramatically Reduced in Patients on Ventilators in Michigan Intensive Care Units (nlm.nih.gov)
• Challenges In Stemming The Spread Of Resistant Bacteria In Intensive Care
• Simple Cotton Swab Slashes Reduce Post-Op Infection (Medical News today, June 2011)
• Infection Risk Lurks in Hospital ICUs (webmd.com)

Bacteria eyed for possible role in atherosclerosis

Bacteria eyed for possible role in atherosclerosis
Enterobacter hormaechei — normally associated with pneumonia and sepsis — found in excised atherosclerotic plaque tissue

From a January 5, 2011 Eurkea news alert

Dr. Emil Kozarov and a team of researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified specific bacteria that may have a key role in vascular pathogenesis, specifically atherosclerosis, or what is commonly referred to as “hardening of the arteries” – the number one cause of death in the United States.

Fully understanding the role of infections in cardiovascular diseases has been challenging because researchers have previously been unable to isolate live bacteria from atherosclerotic tissue. Using tissue specimens from the Department of Surgery and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, Dr. Kozarov and his team, however, were able to isolate plaques from a 78-year-old male who had previously suffered a heart attack. Their findings are explained in the latest Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.

In the paper, researchers describe processing the tissue using cell cultures and genomic analysis to look for the presence of culturable bacteria. In addition, they looked at five pairs of diseased and healthy arterial tissue. The use of cell cultures aided in the isolation of the bacillus Enterobacter hormaechei from the patient’s tissue. Implicated in bloodstream infections and other life-threatening conditions, the isolated bacteria were resistant to multiple antibiotics. Surprisingly, using quantitative methods, this microbe was further identified in very high numbers in diseased but not in healthy arterial tissues.

The data suggest that a chronic infection may underlie the process of atherosclerosis, an infection that can be initiated by the systemic dissemination of bacteria though different “gates” in the vascular wall – as in the case of a septic patient, through intestinal infection. The data support Dr. Kozarov’s previous studies, where his team identified periodontal bacteria in carotid artery, thus pointing to tissue-destructing periodontal infections as one possible gate to the circulation.

Bacteria can gain access to the circulation through different avenues, and then penetrate the vascular walls where they can create secondary infections that have been shown to lead to atherosclerotic plaque formation, the researchers continued. “In order to test the idea that bacteria are involved in vascular pathogenesis, we must be able not only to detect bacterial DNA, but first of all to isolate the bacterial strains from the vascular wall from the patient,” Dr. Kozarov said.

One specific avenue of infection the researchers studied involved bacteria getting access to the circulatory system via internalization in white blood cells (phagocytes) designed to ingest harmful foreign particles. The model that Dr. Kozarov’s team was able to demonstrate showed an intermediate step where Enterobacter hormaechei is internalized by the phagocytic cells, but a step wherein bacteria are able to avoid immediate death in phagocytes. Once in circulation, Dr. Kozarov said, bacteria using this “Trojan horse” approach can persist in the organism for extended periods of time while traveling to and colonizing distant sites. This can lead to multitude of problems for the patients and for the clinicians: failure of antibiotic treatment, vascular tissue colonization and initiation of an inflammatory process, or atherosclerosis, which ultimately can lead to heart attack or stroke.

“Our findings warrant further studies of bacterial infections as a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease, and of the concept that ‘bacterial persistence’ in phagocytic cells likely contributes to systemic dissemination,” said Dr. Kozarov, an associate professor of oral biology at the College of Dental Medicine. Dr. Jingyue Ju, co-author and director of the Columbia Center for Genome Technology & Bio-molecular Engineering, also contributed to this research, which was supported in part by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and by the Columbia University Section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences.

The article appeared in Volume 18 of the Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.

Get Smart : Know When Antibiotics Work

The US Centers for Disease Control publishes a wealth of information about antibiotics for consumers, health practitioners, and the media.

Topics include appropriate antibiotic use, dangers of antibiotic resistance, and an antibiotic quiz.

Information for Everyone includes both print and online materials, fact sheets, and Q and A’s.

Information for Healthcare Providers includes Treatment Guidelines, Patient Education Materials, and Continuing Education materials.

MRSA Strain With Outbreak Potential Among Reports at Disease Conference

Presentations also track antibiotic prescriptions, new drugs

From an October 24, 2010 Health Day news item

FRIDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) — An increasingly stubborn strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a common bacterial infection acquired in hospitals, has been identified in Ohio, according to research presented at the [2010] annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The strain, ST239 MRSA, killed 22 percent of the people it infected within 30 days, the study found. It’s the first time that the strain, originally identified in Brazil, has been seen in the United States since the 1990s.

“It does have epidemic potential for outbreak,” the study’s co-author, Dr. Shu-Hua Wang, said. “It has increased capacity to cause invasive, serious infection.”

Wang’s group reported that 6.8 percent — or 77 — of 1,126 MRSA samples collected through the Ohio State University Health Network and seven rural hospitals in a three-year period from January 2007 to January 2010 were ST239.

Wang, who is an assistant professor of medicine at Ohio State, called for more genotyping of MRSA isolates.

A second study presented at the conference found that antibiotic prescriptions in the United States were much higher in the South than in the West, a finding that held for all types of antibiotics……

…..

Among other research being presented at the conference, which concludes Sunday in Vancouver, Canada: three new drugs appear to show promise in fighting MRSA and other bacteria when current antibiotics fail.

• Fusidic acid, which could fight S. aureus. “This is pretty exciting because it has no cross-resistance with any class of antibiotics so it could be used widely,” said Dr. Ronald N. Jones, chief executive of JMI Laboratories in North Liberty, Iowa, which makes the drug and funded the study being presented.
• JNJ-Q2. This potential agent belongs to a class of drugs known as fluoroquinolones and may be effective against S. aureus, including the methicillin-resistant form. “JNJ-Q2 was 16 times more potent than the existing marketed fluoroquinolones,” Jones said. The drug is moving into phase 2 and phase 3 trials, he said.
• A version of cephalosporin. It “may enable us to treat a broader spectrum of drug-resistant bacteria, although it probably won’t be on the market till 2013 or 2014,” Jones said.

Also being presented at the conference is a study involving a computer model that found that “universal contact precautions” — requiring anyone visiting a MRSA patient in the hospital to wear gloves and a gown — were more effective at preventing MRSA infection among patients in intensive-care units than were other strategies.

But the approach was expensive. The study’s lead author, Dr. Courtney A. Gidengil, an instructor in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Boston and Harvard Medical School, said that other strategies might be less effective but they are also less costly.

Another study presented at the conference found that carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, which carries a high mortality rate, is becoming more prevalent in the Chicago area.

Editor Flahiff’s note: If you need assistance tracking down studies in this news item, contact a reference librarian at your local public, academic, or medical library. Alternatively, you may contact me at jmflahiff@yahoo.com. I will reply within 48 hours. At the very least, I will provide contact information for a study’s author(s). Many study author’s are happy to share at least citations to their works, if not full text of their studies.

 

Related reports

[April 1]

AHRQ Researchers Study How Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Is Managed in Health Care Settings

 

Findings from three new AHRQ-funded reports on community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are now available.  The reports result from two-year projects conducted by AHRQ’s Practice-Based Research Networks in Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina. Select below to access each report.

• Management by Primary Care Clinicians of Patients Suspected of Having Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus AureusInfections—State Network of Colorado Ambulatory Practices and Partners. Researchers tested interventions for two health networks to optimize treatment for skin and soft tissue infections consistent with the community-acquired MRSA guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They found the intervention resulted in an increase in antibiotic use and the proportion of prescribed antibiotics that covered MRSA.
• Community-Acquired Skin Infections in the Age of Methicillin-Resistant Organisms—Iowa Research Network Practices, University of Iowa. Researchers assessed how family physicians in rural areas managed patients with skin and soft tissue infections after introducing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. They used chart review and/or follow-up to compare infection management and antibiotic therapy in patients before and after the CDC guidelines were introduced. They found that providers were more likely to prescribe antibiotics that covered MRSA at the initial patient visit after the guidelines were implemented.
• Cellulitis and Abscess Management in the Era of Resistance to Antibiotics (CAMERA)—Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill & Duke Clinical Research Institute.  Researchers worked with nine primary care practices to improve the quality of care for individuals with skin or soft tissue infections. As a result, they developed recommendations and strategies for diagnosing and managing community-acquired MRSA in these settings. For example, researchers recommend that practices develop documentation and coding presentations; integrate templates into electronic medical records for describing skin and soft tissue infections; and hold workshops in the management of skin and soft tissue infections.

 

 

Wash Out Those Reusable Grocery Bags Between Trips!

Meat juices are a major culprit in cross contamination involving reusable grocery bags.
However, hand or machine washing of the bags reduces bacteria in these contaminated bags by 99%.

An abstract of the report may be found here.

Also, Health Canada has recently published  (June 14, 2011) a press release reminding shoppers to take steps to prevent cross-contamination.
From their Web site

Health Canada is reminding Canadians to take steps to prevent cross-contamination of foods when shopping with reusable grocery bags and bins.

As an environmental choice, many Canadians are now shopping with reusable bins, plastic bags and cloth bags to reduce the amount of plastic they are using. Health Canada supports the proper use of these products, but it is important that Canadians use them safely to prevent cross-contamination of food with bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.

Because these bags and plastic bins are reused frequently, they can pick up bacteria from the foods they carry, or from their environment (the ground, the back of your car or the items stored in them between grocery trips).

The following steps can help you prevent cross-contamination:

• When using cloth bags, make sure to wash them frequently, especially after carrying fresh produce, meat, poultry or fish. Reusable grocery bags may not all be machine washable. If you are using this type of grocery bag, you should make sure to wash them by hand frequently with hot soapy water. Plastic bins should be washed using hot soapy water on a regular basis as well. It is also important that you dry your grocery bags and bins after washing.
• Put your fresh or frozen raw meat, poultry and fish in separate bins or bags from fresh produce and other ready-to-eat foods.
• Putting your fresh or frozen raw meat, poultry or fish in plastic bags (the clear bags found in the produce and some meat sections work well) will help prevent the juices from leaking out and contaminating your reusable containers and other foods. Fresh produce should also always be put in plastic bags to help protect them from contamination.
• If you are using your grocery bags or bins to store or transport non-food items, they should be thoroughly washed before using them for groceries.It is estimated that there are approximately 11 million cases of food-related illnesses in Canada every year. Many of these illnesses could be prevented by following proper food handling and preparation techniques.

 

Related articles

• Ten Commandments of Reusable Bag Use at the grocery store and elsewhere. (sustainablyverdant.wordpress.com)
• Sad Sacks: Can Reusable Shopping Bags Leach Lead into Food? (scientificamerican.com)
• Are There More Than Just Groceries in Your Shopping Cart? (tghc.wordpress.com)