More good news about dark chocolate

Go ahead, live forever.

Eating dark chocolate daily can reduce cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes in people with metabolic syndrome, i.e. a combination of factors that increase the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.

Dark chocolate with a cocoa solid content of at least 60% is rich in flavonoids that are known to protect the heart. However, the protecting effects have so far only been assessed in short-term studies. To predict the long-term effects, Australian researchers used a mathematical model to predict the long-term health effects and economic effectiveness of eating dark chocolate daily. They recruited 2,013 people who were high-risk candidates for heart disease. 

All participants were hypertensive and met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, yet they had no previous history of heart disease or diabetes and did not take medication to lower their blood pressure. 

The best-case scenario, i.e. a compliance of 100%, meant that eating dark chocolate daily would be able to prevent 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascular events per 10,000 people over a 10-year duration. By reducing the compliance rate to 80%, they could potentially prevent 55 non-fatal and 10 fatal events respectively, which is still a substantial reduction and effective intervention. 



I'm definitely gonna comply. I may start right now. BTW, itt's gotta be the dark kind, people, not milk chocolate, and it has to have a cocoa content of at least 60-70% cocoa.

However, any kind of chocolate that comes in ice cream is okay, according to me.

Lighten up, live forever

Will live forever.

Researchers have found that personality traits like being outgoing, optimistic, easygoing, and enjoying laughter, as well as staying engaged in activities, may be part of the longevity genes mix.

"When I started working with centenarians, I thought we'd find that they survived so long in part because they were mean and ornery," said Nir Barzilai, M.D., the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, director of Einstein's Institute for Aging Research and co-corresponding author of the study. 

"But when we assessed the personalities of these 243 centenarians, we found qualities that clearly reflect a positive attitude towards life. Most were outgoing, optimistic and easygoing. They considered laughter an important part of life and had a large social network. They expressed emotions openly rather than bottling them up." 

In addition, the centenarians had lower scores for displaying neurotic personality and higher scores for being conscientious compared with a representative sample of the U.S. population.

The scientists wouldn't say it, but I will: jerks will die off more quickly. I've got a list.

Miracles and wonders: think to drink coffee

"While American companies operate in radically different ways than they did 40 years ago, the sheltered, government-dominated sectors of the economy — especially education, health care and the welfare state — operate in astonishingly similar ways," David Brooks writes in The New York Times.

That is the most worrisome thing about Obamacare. In corporate America, command-and-control is dead, having given way to "edge of network," hierarchies are flattening, and knowledge is being sucked in from everywhere, including outside of the company. Companies post technical problems on special websites and researchers around the world bid to solve them.

Against this, we have Washington doing its best to consolidate power and decision-making in its bureaucratic hallways. Paradoxically, this is an era of miracles and wonders -- every day brings some new astounding breakthrough in medicine. These usually mean some more effective and more efficient way to cure something -- which means cheaper.

For example:

Researchers have long tried to get the optic nerve to regenerate when injured, with some success, but no one has been able to demonstrate recovery of vision. A team at Boston Children’s Hospital reports a three-pronged intervention that not only got optic nerve fibers to grow the full length of the visual pathway (from retina to the visual areas of the brain), but also restored some basic elements of vision in live mice.

Tiny, wearable gadgets that monitor and record the data of the body’s weight, heart rate, activity levels and other vital signs can change the game in health care. Sonny Vu, co-founder of the medical-device company AgaMatrix, has already developed the first FDA-approved mobile attachment for Apple’s iPhone that acts as a sensor in detecting glucose levels. Vu believes this is one of the many devices that our bodies will harness to keep us up-to-date on what is going on with our health. Mobile devices are popular and will continue to gain popularity, so it makes sense to integrate it with the healthcare system. People can text, check Facebook and ensure that they have normal blood pressure because everything is readily available like the shirt on their back.

An ultrasensitive biosensor that could allow for early detection of cancer and for personalized medicine tailored to the specific biochemistry of individual patients has been developed by Purdue University researchers. The biosensor combines a mechanical sensor, which identifies a biomolecule based on its mass or size, with an electrical sensor that identifies molecules based on their electrical charge. The sensor makes it possible to detect small quantities of DNA fragments and proteins deformed by cancer long before the disease is visible through imaging or other methods.

A woman who lost the use of her limbs after a devastating stroke nearly 15 years ago has taken a sip of coffee by guiding a robotic arm with her thoughts. The 58-year-old used a brain implant to control the robot and bring a flask of the coffee to her lips, the first time she had picked up anything since she was paralysed and left unable to speak by a catastrophic brain stem stroke. Doctors hailed the feat as the first demonstration of an implant that directly controls a reaching and gripping robotic arm by sensing and decoding the patient's brain signals. Watch it here:

Snoring kills. Good.

Snoring and other types of "sleep disordered breathing," as it is known, can deprive the body of enough oxygen for hours at a time. And scientists now believe having low blood oxygen levels can trigger the development of cancerous tumors, by promoting the growth of the vessels that feed them.

Researchers in the US looked at cancer rates in more than 1,500 people, in a study of sleep problems that has been going for 22 years. They found those with severe sleep disordered breathing (SDB) were 4.8 times more likely to develop cancer than those who had no such problems.

This is good news for two reasons. First, it's nature's way of eliminating annoying people. Second, it introduces yet another acronym for hypochondriacs to call their doctors about. SDB. Sound serious.

Exercise and ADHD

Exercise clears the mind. It gets the blood pumping and more oxygen is delivered to the brain. This is familiar territory, but Dartmouth's David Bucci thinks there is much more going on.

"In the last several years there have been data suggesting that neurobiological changes are happening -- [there are] very brain-specific mechanisms at work here," says Bucci, an associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. From his studies, Bucci and his collaborators have revealed important new findings:

• The effects of exercise are different on memory as well as on the brain, depending on whether the exerciser is an adolescent or an adult.

• A gene has been identified which seems to mediate the degree to which exercise has a beneficial effect. This has implications for the potential use of exercise as an intervention for mental illness.

Bucci began his pursuit of the link between exercise and memory with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most common childhood psychological disorders. 

Bucci is concerned that the treatment of choice seems to be medication. "The notion of pumping children full of psycho-stimulants at an early age is troublesome," Bucci cautions. "We frankly don't know the long-term effects of administering drugs at an early age -- drugs that affect the brain -- so looking for alternative therapies is clearly important."

"The implication is that exercising during development, as your brain is growing, is changing the brain in concert with normal developmental changes, resulting in your having more permanent wiring of the brain in support of things like learning and memory," says Bucci. "It seems important to [exercise] early in life." 

When I was in school -- and this was first grade through 12th -- we had physical education for one hour every single day. That's not happening now. What's it like at your school?

I told you there is a God

After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn’t matter.

The study of 400,000 people is the largest ever done on the issue, and the results should reassure any coffee lovers who think it’s a guilty pleasure that may do harm.

“Our study suggests that’s really not the case,” said lead researcher Neal Freedman of the National Cancer Institute. “There may actually be a modest benefit of coffee drinking.”

No one knows why. Uh, do you really care?

 Coffee contains a thousand things that can affect health, from helpful antioxidants to tiny amounts of substances linked to cancer. The most widely studied ingredient — caffeine — didn’t play a role in the new study’s results.

It’s not that earlier studies were wrong. 

There is evidence that coffee can raise LDL, or bad cholesterol, and blood pressure at least short-term, and those in turn can raise the risk of heart disease. 

Even in the new study, it first seemed that coffee drinkers were more likely to die at any given time. But they also tended to smoke, drink more alcohol, eat more red meat and exercise less than non-coffee-drinkers. 

Once researchers took those things into account, a clear pattern emerged: Each cup of coffee per day nudged up the chances of living longer.

Next week: why smoking, drinking, red meat and no exercise are good for you.

Second opinions count

"Let's do more tests."

So this doctor told me the other day that I'm dying. I said, "I'd like a second opinion."

"Okay," he said. "You're ugly, too."

That's an old joke, but I'm an old guy.

I've gotten second opinions on lots of things over the years. I've even gotten third opinions. Here's some advice from Johns Hopkins Medicine:

When faced with a serious medical condition like prostate cancer, many men seek a second opinion to confirm their diagnosis or clarify treatment options. Yet others dread getting a second opinion for fear of offending their doctor. But that's rarely the case: Doctors are accustomed to having their patients consult another doctor to get a second point of view, and some doctors may recommend it.

What's more, you may not have a choice in the matter. Your insurance company may require a second opinion for certain therapies and procedures, particularly if your treatment is expensive. Even so, do check with your insurance company before getting a second opinion to make sure the visit is covered.

When doctors disagree: What studies show

Medical research strongly supports the value of second opinions. For example, after reviewing slides of tissue obtained from breast cancer patients, pathologists at Northwestern University had major disagreements with the initial diagnoses -- almost all made at community hospitals -- that altered the surgical procedure in 8 percent of patients. 

The second opinion also changed the prognosis in 40 percent of cases. At the request of patients, Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia offered second opinions for 100 patients undergoing eye surgery. The reviewers disagreed with the initial diagnoses or management in 15 percent of cases, a finding that further underscores the importance of second opinions for surgeries, in particular.

Finding a second doctor

It's easiest to ask your primary care physician for a referral. Or, if you prefer, call the local medical society or a nearby medical center or medical school for the names of specialists. You can check credentials in the Official American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS) Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists, available at most libraries or online at www.abms.org.

Referrals from friends, family or support networks may also be worthwhile. But always check credentials. Some departments at Johns Hopkins provide second opinions remotely for patients unable to travel to the Baltimore area. For details, visit www.hopkins medicine.org/second_opinion or call 1-855-695-4872.

Getting medical records

Your physician should send your relevant medical records, including x-rays and blood tests. Because of strict privacy laws on personal medical records, you'll have to sign a release. The process can get tricky, as test results and other medical information may come from unaffiliated offices. Poor management of medical records is unfortunately a common problem for patients, hospitals and doctors.