Donna Lowry
Veteran Broadcast Journalist
Georgia Public Broadcasting News Correspondent
The older I get, the more I seem to pause whenever I read a health-related headline or hear someone mention health news on the radio or television. I guess that curiosity is a natural part of getting older. But, health news is everywhere, and it is sometimes hard to keep up. Here are some of the latest in essential health stories that I think need our increased attention.
Cholesterol Surprise
When I married my husband 24 years ago, I told him I rarely eat red meat, so he would have to adjust to eating lots of chicken and turkey, and occasionally (about once a month) eating red meat. Obviously, his love for me must have outweighed his love for steak and ham, because he went along with it with only a little grumbling. Now, I have learned that a new study shows chicken may not lower cholesterol any more than beef.
According to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the health risks of white meat versus red meat may be the same. Researchers studied 100 participants, men and women between the ages of 21 and 65, who were in either a high saturated fat or low saturated fat diet group. Over periods of four weeks each, they ate either red meat, white poultry meat, or no meat. The scientists expected poultry to result in lower cholesterol levels, but the research showed levels of LDL or “bad cholesterol” were the same both in those who ate red meat and white meat.
“I was surprised that the effect of white meat on cholesterol levels was identical to the effects of red meat,” said Dr. Ronald Krauss, study author and director of atherosclerosis research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in an interview with NBC News.
The experts who have studied the research have concluded that as with anything these days, the bottom line is moderation.
“People with a history of high cholesterol levels or heart disease must consume less of both types of meat and substitute them with plant-based proteins sourced from beans, lentils, quinoa and soy-based products like tempeh and tofu” Registered dietician and postdoctoral fellow of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut Maria Romo-Palafox reported on CNN.
Diabetes Cases Drop
Doctors first diagnosed my younger brother with diabetes at age 11, so any news about diabetes always catches my attention. Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are reporting a decrease in newly diagnosed cases of diabetes by 35 percent in the past 10 years. The number of cases peaked in 2009, but the numbers have declined since then. The findings also show a plateau in the number of people living with diabetes.
“The findings suggest that our work to stem the tide of type 2 diabetes may be working – but we still have a very long way to go,” said Ann Albright, Ph.D., director of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We must continue proven interventions and deploy innovative strategies if we’re going to see a continued decline in type 2 diabetes among Americans.”
Climb in Measles Cases
The measles news of late keeps me shaking my head because I thought our country had eliminated this public health hazard that plagued so many of us decades ago. According to the CDC, the 981 reported cases in the U.S. as of May 31 of this year have already outpaced the 963 cases in all of 1994. The outbreaks are concentrated in 26 states.
If the progress on the number of reported cases in the coming months continues at the same level, the U.S. will lose the measles elimination status it gained in 2000; 19 years later.
“Measles is preventable, and the way to end this outbreak is to ensure that all children and adults who can get vaccinated, get vaccinated. Again, I want to reassure parents that vaccines are safe, they do not cause autism. The greater danger is the disease the vaccination prevents,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, M.D. He explained, “Your decision to vaccinate will protect your family’s health and your community’s well-being. CDC will continue working with public health responders across our nation to bring this outbreak to an end.”
Cancer Rates Continue to Decline
I remember when we called cancer the “C-word” almost in a whisper when we referred to someone with the dreaded disease. Just saying the word aloud seemed to confirm the expected death sentence that often came with a diagnosis. Now, most of us know people who can call themselves cancer survivors, and the results of a new study offer even greater hope.
A recent report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that cancer death rates continued to decline in men, women, and children in the United States from 1999 to 2016. Along gender lines, in the past nine years, the rates of new cancers for men declined and rates for women remained stable.
“We are encouraged by the fact that this year’s report continues to show declining cancer mortality for men, women, and children, as well as other indicators of progress,” said Betsy A. Kohler, executive director of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR).
In a press release on the findings, the CDC said, “The most common cancers and their incidence rates among women ages 20 to 49 were breast (73.2 per 100,000 people), thyroid (28.4), and melanoma of the skin (14.1), with breast cancer incidence far exceeding the incidence of any other cancer. The most common cancers among men ages 20 to 49 were colon and rectum (13.1), testis (10.7), and melanoma of the skin (9.8).”
The latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer appeared in the May, 2019 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute with the findings a collaboration of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the American Cancer Society (ACS); and NAACCR.
“The greater cancer burden among women than men ages 20 to 49 was a striking finding of this study,” said Elizabeth Ward, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a consultant at NAACCR (North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.) “The high burden of breast cancer relative to other cancers in this age group reinforces the importance of research on prevention, early detection, and treatment of breast cancer in younger women,” she said.
