Why Belly Fat Is Bad for Your Brain

Turns out, it's a very special kind of fat, and it may even be linked to dementia
by Theresa Tamkins

The news just keeps getting worse for the potbellied. Not only does belly fat put you at risk for diabetes and heart disease, but a study suggests it may make you lose your mind as well.
It seems that your sagittal abdominal diameter, or SAD—your belly size—is associated with risk of dementia in old age, according to a recent study in Neurology. The bigger the SAD in your 40s, the greater the chance you'll have mental deterioration in old age.

How much of a chance? If you're overweight or obese and don't have a potbelly, your dementia risk is 1.8 times higher than that of your slender peers. If you are overweight or obese and do have an apple shape, your risk is 2.3 to 3.6 times greater than that of wasp-waisted folks.
Overall, about 15% of the people in the study developed dementia, as did 21% of people with potbellies. The 6,583 participants had their midsections measured in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they were 40 to 45 years old, and then again around age 70 by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California.

So why is belly fat so bad for your brain? Although it makes up less than 5% of total body fat, belly or visceral fat is nestled around the heart, pancreas, and other organs, according to Tongjian You, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of exercise and nutrition sciences at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.

And it's different from other types of fat because it produces all kinds of inflammatory compounds that can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and now, potentially, dementia.
"Visceral fat releases higher amounts of those cytokines, especially interleukin 6, that cause cardiovascular disease and diabetes," says Dr. You, who was not involved in the dementia study. But what's the brain connection? "Inflammation is a contributing factor to dementia, so that's a reasonable link," he says.

You don't have to be wearing gigantic pants to be potbellied. The American Heart Association's guideline for a too-generous waistline is 102 centimeters (40 inches) or more for men and 88 centimeters (34.5 inches) for women, says Dr. You. It's not clear if diet alone is enough to whittle your abdominal fat. From his own and other research, he believes that exercise is important for shrinking belly fat, particularly in those who are relatively lean.

"If a person is overweight and obese, that person should change both diet and exercise," he says. However, if someone is lean or just a little overweight and has excess weight in their midsection, "exercise may be the perfect treatment."

New Stroke Therapies Show Promise

(HealthDay News) -- Several new studies point to the promise of new ways to treat different types of stroke.

The research was presented during a teleconference Friday at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.

The first trial found some benefit when tPA, the only approved therapy for acute ischemic stroke, was given outside the usual three-hour treatment window. Patients in this Australian trial who were given tPA three to six hours after having a stroke had increased restoration of blood flow and a smaller area of the brain was deprived of blood. The study was expected to be published in the April issue of The Lancet Neurology, but was released Friday to coincide with the meeting presentation.

Ischemic stroke involves an obstruction in one of the vessels supplying blood to the brain. Currently, "clot busters" are only considered effective for the first three hours after a stroke.

"The issue is that we've got a three-hour label, and can we extend that to six hours," said study author Dr. Stephen M. Davis, of Royal Melbourne Hospital. "Based on our results, it gives a lot of encouragement that you can enrich that population. A lot of people arrive too late, and these are ones we would be targeting."

The findings are enough to warrant further trials but not to change current clinical guidelines just yet.

"This should be viewed as very encouraging, as an intermediate step that's leading to the formation hopefully of a larger study that can be more definitive and that could impact our guidelines significantly," said Dr. Philip Gorelick, moderator of the teleconference and head of the department of neurology and rehabilitation at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A second study looked at patients in China, South Korea and Australia with acute cerebral hemorrhage, the most serious form of stroke.

"High blood pressure is a cause of intercerebral hemorrhage and is also very common at [the] acute state, and we don't know what to do about it," said study author Dr. Craig Anderson, from the University of Sydney in Australia. "We believe that having high blood pressure causes extra bleeding and expansion of blood in the brain. If we can bring blood pressure down, we may be able to arrest bleeding in the brain and bring it under control."

In fact, intensive lowering of blood pressure arrested about half a teaspoon of blood and, Anderson said, "in real life, it might have a bigger treatment effect."

Again, the authors hope the findings will lead to funding for larger trials.

A third trial found that reducing blood pressure in the 60 percent to 70 percent of patients who have elevated levels following acute stroke resulted in reduced dysphasia (communication problems) and some mortality benefits.

"These are very small numbers, and I don't want to hang too much on those results, but I think it's very encouraging, so we can probably go forward and do a much larger phase 3 study," said British study author Dr. John Potter.

For now, Gorelick said, "we continue to recommend that physicians follow American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines. The blood pressure [issue] has not been resolved, and there are important questions of what to do with blood pressure. . . [although] it would be nice to have a definitive plan here and get people on blood pressure-lowering medicine."

Other studies being presented at the conference found that:

• The recently approved Penumbra device, a "vacuum cleaner" which sucks clots out of the brain, was effective for eight hours after the onset of a stroke, adding five hours to a patient's treatment window.
• Aricept (donepezil) improved several measures of executive function and processing speed in patients with a subcortical form of vascular dementia but did not improve overall cognitive scores, according to researchers from the University of Muenchen in Muenchen, Germany.
• Certain chromosomal regions may harbor genes important in assessing individuals at risk for aneurysms. "This is a critical first step if you want to find genes," said study author Dr. Tatiana Foroud, of Medical & Molecular Genetics in Indianapolis. "The ultimate goal is a genetic test to identify individuals at higher risk for aneurysm, and those individuals could have targeted and more costly screening pursued on a regular basis."

More information
Visit the American Stroke Association for more on different types of stroke.

Dementia Diagnosis Typically Means Death Within Five Years

(HealthDay News) -- People with dementia survive an average of four and a half years following their diagnosis, new British research shows.

However, age, sex and any existing disability can alter life expectancy, according to the report in the Jan. 11 online issue of the British Medical Journal.

Common socioeconomic influences, such as marital status, social class and living in a community or residential home, did not appear to have an influence on longevity, the study found.

Researchers analyzed data on more than 13,000 people aged 65 and older who took part in a population-based study in England and Wales and were regularly assessed for dementia between 1991 and 2005.

During the 14-year study period, 438 of the participants developed dementia and 356 (81 percent) of those people died.

Dementia is known to be associated with increased risk of death, but considerable uncertainty exists about what influences survival. Worldwide, the number of people with dementia is estimated to reach 81 million by 2040.

The study found a nearly seven-year difference in survival between the youngest and oldest dementia patients -- 10.7 years for those aged 65 to 69 and 3.8 years for those aged 90 and older.

The average survival time after dementia diagnosis was 4.6 years for women and 4.1 years for men.

People who were the most disabled at the time of diagnosis lived about three years less than those who were the least disabled.

People with more education had a slightly shorter length of survival than those with less education, but researchers said the difference was not statistically significant.

Understanding factors that affect survival time after a dementia diagnosis may help health-care providers, patients, caregivers and policymakers, the study authors said.

More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about dementia.

Relatives of Parkinson's Patients at Higher Psychiatric Risk

(HealthDay News) -- The close relatives of people with Parkinson's disease are at increased risk for depression and anxiety disorders, new research suggests.

The risk is particularly high in the brothers, sisters, parents and children of people who develop Parkinson's before age 75, said a team from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The study included 1,000 immediate relatives of 162 Parkinson's patients and 850 immediate relatives of 147 people without Parkinson's. It's the first large population-based study to identify this kind of association.

"Studies by our group and others have shown that relatives of patients with Parkinson's disease have an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. Recently, we showed they also have increased risk of essential tremor and of cognitive impairment or dementia. However, the risk of psychiatric disorders was unknown," senior author Dr. Walter Rocca, a neurologist and epidemiologist, said in a prepared statement.

"Because many patients with Parkinson's disease develop anxiety and depression after and even before the onset of the disease, we explored whether this tendency was present to a greater extent in family members of people with Parkinson's disease compared with people without the disease. We found that, indeed, relatives of patients with Parkinson's disease are at increased risk for anxiety and depressive disorders, which suggests a genetic or other relationship between those disorders and Parkinson's disease," Rocca said.

Further research is needed to determine the exact cause or causes that boost the risk, he said.

The study was published in the December issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

More information
There's more on Parkinson's disease at We Move.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Alcohol Intake on Cardiovascular Health Reviewed

News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles Vega, MD

The latest American Heart Association guidelines caution people not to start drinking alcohol if they do not already drink alcohol, according to a review of the advantages and disadvantages of alcohol intake on cardiovascular health published in the August 23 Online First issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Accumulating scientific evidence indicates that light to moderate drinking done on a daily basis may significantly reduce the risks of coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality," write James H. O'Keefe, MD, FACC, and colleagues from the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. "In contrast, excessive alcohol intake and binge drinking are toxic to both the heart and overall health and are the third leading cause of premature death among Americans.

The purpose of the present review is to:
1) outline the specific benefits and risks of alcohol, and the threshold of intake at which drinking becomes a health danger rather than an advantage;
2) detail the mechanisms whereby alcohol confers cardioprotection; and
3) discuss the ideal quantities, drinking patterns, and beverages, and which individuals are most likely to benefit."

Research to date has shown J-shaped relationships between alcohol consumption and several adverse health outcomes, including all-cause mortality, CHD, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, stroke, dementia, and Raynaud's phenomenon.

Some cardioprotective benefits have been demonstrated for light to moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink daily for women and 1 or 2 drinks daily for men). Most studies have shown that light to moderate drinking is associated with risk reductions for CHD of approximately 30% to 35%.

Alcohol consumed in moderation seems to have an antiatherosclerotic effect, with decreased incidence of peripheral arterial disease and decreased atherosclerotic burden shown by coronary angiography, computerized tomography-detected coronary calcium, and carotid ultrasound.
Like exercise, alcohol consumption seems to be most cardioprotective when done daily and in moderation. However, increasingly excessive consumption is associated with proportional worsening of outcomes.

Because of the beneficial effects on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, insulin action, and inflammation, light to moderate alcohol intake may be particularly helpful for patients with abnormal glucose metabolism and/or insulin resistance. Light to moderate alcohol intake may be associated with reductions in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes, and a large meta-analysis with 12-year follow-up showed a 30% reduction in new diabetes in those who consumed 1 to 2 drinks daily.

The cardiovascular benefits associated with alcohol consumption protection are thought to be mediated by improvements in insulin sensitivity and HDL cholesterol. The major protective component seems to be the ethanol itself, and not the other ingredients found in different types of alcoholic beverages.

In a meta-analysis incorporating data from more than 1 million participants, consumption of 1 drink daily by women and 1 or 2 drinks daily by men was associated with an 18% reduction in total mortality, but daily intakes of more than 2 drinks in women and 3 drinks in men were associated with dose-dependent increased mortality.

Although low-dose, daily alcohol consumption has been linked to better health than less frequent use, binge drinking increases cardiovascular events and mortality, even in otherwise light drinkers.

"Alcohol should not be universally prescribed for health enhancement to nondrinking individuals owing to the lack of randomized outcome data and the potential for problem drinking," the study authors note. "Alcohol (ethanol) consumption is analogous to the proverbial double-edged sword, and perhaps no other factor in cardiovascular (CV) health is capable of cutting so deeply in either direction depending on how it is used."

Guidelines from the United Kingdom suggest that middle-aged or elderly men and postmenopausal women who drink seldom or never might consider the possibility that light drinking would benefit their health. On occasion, the reviewers have made a similar recommendation to patients who do not smoke and who have no personal or family history of substance abuse and no history of depression or bipolar disorder. However, they argue that light to moderate drinking should not be universally recommended to the general public or even to patients with cardiovascular disease.

As an analogy, they point out that observational data and findings from randomized trials using surrogate endpoints suggested that hormone replacement therapy for women and antioxidant vitamins improved cardiovascular outcomes, whereas later randomized trials with larger samples led to the opposite conclusions. They note that no randomized trials of alcohol for improving clinical outcomes have yet been performed. In observational studies, residual unmeasured confounding factors could be contributing to apparent benefits that seem to be associated with light to moderate drinking.

The investigators further note that heavy drinking has caused significant individual and societal problems and morbidity. In the past 15 years, the rates of alcohol abuse and binge drinking have been increasing, according to the findings of some studies. Alcohol abuse causes 100,000 deaths each year in the United States, and it has been deemed the third largest preventable cause of death.

Excessive alcohol consumption has been associated with increased risks for all-cause mortality, motor vehicle crashes, stroke, cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysrhythmia, sudden cardiac arrest, suicide, cancer (particularly of the breast and gastrointestinal tract), cirrhosis, fetal alcohol syndrome and sleep apnea.

"Sobering statistics warn that moderate daily drinking is a slippery slope that many individuals cannot safely navigate," the study authors conclude. "The latest American Heart Association guidelines caution people not to start drinking if they do not already drink alcohol, because it is not possible to predict in which people alcohol abuse will become a problem. Until we have more randomized outcome data, and tools for predicting susceptibility to problem drinking, it would seem prudent to encourage physicians and patients to focus on more innocuous interventions to prevent CHD."

J Am Coll Cardiol. Published online August 23, 2007.
2007;50:1009-1014.

First Skin Patch Sanctioned for Alzheimer's

(HealthDay News) -- The Exelon skin patch (rivastigmine transdermal system) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat dementia associated with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, maker Novartis Pharmaceuticals said Monday.

Exelon, approved in 2000 in capsule form to treat Alzheimer's dementia and in 2006 to treat Parkinson's dementia, can cause gastrointestinal side effects typical of its class of drug, called cholinesterase inhibitors.

The skin patch, while maintaining a steady supply of the drug over 24 hours, showed three times fewer reports of nausea and vomiting than the capsule form, Novartis said.

As with the capsule form, the company recommended that the medicated patch be used with caution in people with a history of so-called "sick sinus syndrome," ulcers, asthma and other chronic lung diseases, seizures, or urinary obstruction.

More information
For more information about this drug, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Resolve to Exercise Your Brain

(HealthDay News) -- Getting in shape tops many New Year's resolution lists, but the Alliance for Aging Research is encouraging Americans to boost their brain health, too.

"There is a lot we can do to keep our brains healthy and potentially prevent or lessen the cognitive decline that often comes with aging," Daniel Perry, executive director of the nonprofit Alliance for Aging Research, said in a prepared statement. "We are encouraging people to take steps to improve brain health as part of their overall fitness regimen for the New Year."

The Alliance for Aging Research recommends these 10 steps for improving your brain health.

Eat a Brain-Healthy Diet. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (commonly found in fish), protein, antioxidants, fruits and vegetables and vitamin B; low in trans fats; and with an appropriate level of carbohydrates will help keep your brain healthy.

Stay Mentally Active. Activities such as learning a new skill or language, working on crossword puzzles, taking classes, and learning how to dance can help challenge and maintain your mental functioning.

Exercise Regularly. Exercising often can increase circulation, improve coordination, and help prevent conditions that increase the risk of dementia such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Stay Social. Spending time with friends, volunteering, and traveling can keep your mind active and healthy.

Get Plenty of Sleep. Not getting enough sleep can have a negative impact on brain health.

Manage Stress. Participating in yoga, spending time with friends, or doing other stress-relieving activities can help preserve your ability to remember and learn.

Prevent Brain Injury. Wearing protective head gear and seat belts can help you avoid head injury, which has been associated with an increased risk of dementia.

Control Other Health Conditions. Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, eating a well-balanced and nutritious diet, and controlling stress can help reduce your risk of diseases that affect your brain, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and hypertension.

Avoid Unhealthy Habits. Smoking, heavy drinking and use of recreational drugs can increase the risk of dementia and cognitive decline.

Consider Your Genes. If your family history puts you at risk for developing dementia, work with your doctor to find ways to maintain your brain health to help avoid or slow the progression of cognitive decline.

More information
The National Institute on Aging has more about forgetfulness.

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Scientists Probe Radiotherapy-Linked Brain Changes

(HealthDay News) -- Researchers believe certain brain changes may be linked to the dementia experienced by many cancer patients after whole-brain radiation treatment.

Each year, about 200,000 people in the United States receive whole-brain radiation, which is used to treat recurrent brain tumors as well as to prevent breast cancer, lung cancer, and malignant melanoma from spreading to the brain.

About a year after whole-brain radiation treatment, up to 50 percent of patients develop progressive learning and memory problems.

In their research with rats, a team at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., found that whole-brain radiation caused compositional changes in brain cell receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate.

A neurotransmitter carries signals between brain nerve cells. The changes in these receptors appear to be associated with cognitive problems.

"By identifying exactly how radiation causes these side effects, our hope is that we can find a way to prevent or reverse them," study lead author and research fellow Lei Shi explained in a prepared statement.

The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Radiation Research Society, in Philadelphia.

"There is growing concern about the cognitive consequences of whole-brain radiation. Our findings suggest that very subtle changes may be critical and that glutamate receptors may be one of those changes," Wake Forest senior researcher Judy Brunso-Bechtold, professor of neurobiology and anatomy, said in a prepared statement.

More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about whole-brain radiation.

Marijuana-Like Compound May Slow Alzheimer's

(HealthDay News) -- A new U.S. study finds that marijuana may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's, while a second report suggests the "club drug" Ecstasy could yield insights into Parkinson's disease.

Both findings were presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in Atlanta.

In the first presentation, researchers from Ohio State University in Columbus found that marijuana may contain compounds that can slow memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

In their study involving rats, a team led by psychology professor Gary Wenk searched for ways to reduce Alzheimer's-linked brain inflammation.

Wenk was already familiar with data that found that long-term marijuana users had lower rates of Alzheimer's disease than the general population. His team sought to find a compound that might reduce disease-linked brain inflammation but avoid the drug's psychoactive effects.
"We are using a component of marijuana that stimulates the same centers in the brain that marijuana does," Wenk said. The synthetic compound, which is very similar in composition to marijuana, is called WIN-55212-2 (WIN).

Experiments conducted on young and old rats revealed that WIN is "a very effective anti-inflammatory, it reduces brain inflammation," Wenk said.

What makes this discovery special is that this compound can cross the blood-brain barrier, Wenk explained. The results of a special rat "maze test" suggested that WIN "also reversed the memory impairment in the older rats," he said.

Brain inflammation is characteristic of many diseases other than Alzheimer's, including multiple sclerosis, ALS, AIDS, Huntington's and Parkinson's, Wenk noted. "We are beginning to notice that brain inflammation is always in the background as people get older," he said. "Inflammation doesn't cause the disease, it contributes to the pathology," he said.

WIN is not appropriate for use in humans because it still contains substances that may trigger a "high." However, Wenk hopes that some form of this compound might be used to benefit people with neurological diseases.

"We have the added advantage that millions of doses [of marijuana] have been taken by millions of people over the past centuries," he said. "We already know a lot about its actions in the body and its toxicity, or lack of toxicity. The only problem we have is that it's illegal."

Wenk is not suggesting that Alzheimer's patients start using marijuana. "Patients would have to be so careful not to get too much," he said. "That would only worsen the symptoms of their dementia."
The challenge is to find a dose that has an anti-inflammatory effect but does not make patients high, Wenk said. "It's hopeful," he said, "but it's not a therapy until we find a way to make it work in humans."

One expert believes it may be possible to derive therapeutic benefits from marijuana without inducing other effects that could be harmful to Alzheimer's patients.

"These are still early days for thinking about drugs derived from cannabis," said Dr. Samuel Gandy, director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
"Still, we know the structure of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) [the active ingredient in cannabis] in detail, and it is not inconceivable that helpful THC-based drugs could be created chemically that benefit brain function but lack the 'high' that currently stigmatizes the compound," Gandy added.

In the second report, researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that, in rats, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) -- more commonly known as the illegal drug Ecstasy -- increases the survival of dopamine-releasing cells in the brain during fetal development.
"The club drug Ecstasy can cause dopamine neurons to grow and prevent them from dying off," explained lead researcher Jack Lipton, a professor of psychiatry.

Dopamine cells are critical to the regulation of voluntary movement. This discovery might lead to better therapies for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, the researchers said.
Ecstasy, as is, is not beneficial for Parkinson's patients, Lipton cautioned. But a part of MDMA may be.

The trick now is to find the components of MDMA that have this effect on dopamine cells and develop ways to use it to help Parkinson's patients, Lipton said. It could also be used as an adjunct to stem cell transplantation, something that's now being studied in Parkinson's patients.
"It could help transplants take better and have more cells survive," Lipton said.

More information
There's more on Alzheimer's disease at the Alzheimer's Association.

'Quilt to Remember' Honors Those Struggling With Alzheimer's

(HealthDay News) -- The first stitches will soon be sewn in a giant U.S. "national quilt" to remember people affected by Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, according to the project's sponsor, the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA).

Inspired by the famous AIDS Memorial Quilt, the foundation's Quilt to Remember will be continuously added to over time with panels from individuals (four feet by four feet) and panels from organizations (eight feet by eight feet). Each panel will memorialize people who have either passed away from or are living with dementia, or family caregivers and health-care professionals committed to the cause.

Beginning next fall, the quilt will be displayed in cities across the United States.

"The AFA Quilt to Remember will be brought to the heart of America. Piece by piece, it will help our nation recognize the reality and the enormity of this disease, and affirm that we stand united for optimal care and a cure," AFA chief executive officer Eric J. Hall said in a prepared statement.

"Our desire is for the quilt to bring comfort and hope during the holiday season and throughout the year to families affected by this heartbreaking brain disorder," Hall said.

Dementia Rates To Double in 20 Years

I've been warning you for some time about the Alzheimer's epidemic waiting to happen in America. Based on the latest report from Alzheimer's Disease International on dementia, however, that epidemic has arrived, and on a worldwide scale too.

These numbers will shock you:

• A new dementia patient is diagnosed every 7 seconds.
• More than 24 million patients worldwide already have dementia and, almost 5 million new cases are reported annually.
• More than 20 percent of those suffering from dementia live in China, followed closely by Western Europe and North America.
• The number of dementia patients will exceed 80 million by 2040.

Folks, neither dementia or Alzheimer's are isn't a normal part of the aging process, and you can take steps to prevent their damage naturally, safely and without the need for a drug. Here's how:

• Get moving with an exercise program today!
• Eat a healthier diet, based on your body's unique metabolic type and be sure to increase your intake of fresh vegetables, high in folate.
• Challenge your mind by learning new things.
• Avoid aluminum and mercury at all costs.
• Consume a high quality fish or cod liver oil daily.
  

BBC News December 16, 2005

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Established Drugs May Be More Lethal to Seniors Than New Ones

I told you about the growing realization among the medical establishment newer antipsychotic drugs aren't much better, if at all, than the older, cheaper ones they were meant to replace. Unfortunately, older drugs can be even more harmful, elevating a senior's risk of premature death, according to a new study.

Older antipsychotics, Haldol and Thorazine, were responsible for increasing a senior's mortality risks by 37 percent, based on a review of some 23,000 elderly patients in Pennsylvania.

About 15 percent of patients taking newer drugs like Risperdal or Zyprexa died within six months versus almost 18 percent taking older medications during a similar time frame.

This news may affect you more than think, especially if you have elderly relatives who live in nursing homes. As much as a quarter of the Medicare recipients living there take at least one antipsychotic drug.

By making some simpler and safer lifestyle changes, however, you and your loved ones can avoid lethal drugs -- old or new -- as well as dementia and Alzheimer's.

Modify your eating habits based on your body's unique metabolic type, while limiting, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars.

Get moving on an exercise program today.

Rebalance your intake of omega-3 fats by taking a high quality fish or cod liver oil daily.

New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 353, No. 22, December 1, 2005: 2335-2341
Los Angeles Times December 5, 2005
U.S. News and World Report, December 2, 2005