Womens Health
Folic Acid & Iron Linked to Better Baby Survival...
The Key Nutrients For Maternal and Infant Health
Taking Folic Acid and Iron Supplements during pregnancy may reduce infant mortality up to age 7, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Supplements of Iron and Folic Acid reduced infant mortality by 31 per cent, according to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Furthermore, the supplements reduced the prevalence of low birth weight by 16 per cent and the prevalence of maternal anaemia during pregnancy and after the birth period by 50 per cent.
"To our knowledge this is the first time the long-term effects of maternal Iron-Folic Acid supplementation on childhood survival have been examined,"
"A reduction in mortality resulting from an intervention, such as Iron-Folic Acid supplementation during pregnancy, provides a new and previously unreported evidence of benefit to offspring during childhood," reported the research team.
About 40 per cent of pregnant women worldwide are estimated to be anaemic. Despite the existence of an international policy for antenatal Iron-Folic Acid supplementation, women in many developing countries fail to receive the necessary micronutrients, added the researchers.
Almost 5,000 pregnant women in rural Nepal were recruited to take part in the randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. Women were divided into five groups: One group received Folic Acid only, the second group received Folic Acid plus Iron, the third received Folic Acid plus Iron plus Zinc, the fourth received multiple micronutrients, and the final group received Vitamin A and acted as the control group.
Out of the 4,130 babies born alive, 209 died in the first 3 months and 8 were lost to follow-up. Of the 3,761 remaining, the researchers report that 150 died between the ages of 3 months and 7 years, while 152 were lost to follow-up.
Improved Survival Rates For Mothers
Children of mothers receiving the Folic Acid plus Iron supplements had the lowest mortality rate of 10.3 per 1,000 child-years from birth to age 7 years, compared to 13.4, 12.0, 14.0, and 15.2 for the Folic Acid, Folic Acid plus Iron plus Zinc, multiple micronutrients, and contro groups, respectively.
"In a setting where maternal Iron deficiency and anaemia are common, we found a 31 percent reduction in childhood mortality due to maternal antenatal and postnatal supplementation with Iron-Folic Acid compared to a control."
"and that such results provide additional motivation to increase global programs for antenatal iron and Folic Acid supplementation" the researchers concluded.
"Following their previous demonstration that Iron-Folic Acid supplementation during pregnancy increased birth weight, the researchers have now provided unique data on the critica importance of this intervention for improving child survival. This strong evidence should re-energize programs for the delivery of this critical intervention for maternal and child health,"
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology Published online "Antenatal and Postnatal Iron Supplementation and Childhood Mortality in Rural Nepal: A Prospective Follow-up in a Randomized, controlled Community Trial"
Soy May Reduce Breast Cancer Mortality, According To New Study
Important New Evidence About The Value Of Soy For Cancer Risk Reduction
Increased intakes of soy and soy products may reduce the risk of death and breast cancer recurrence, reports a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Women with the highest intake of soy protein had a 29 per cent lower risk of death, and a 32 per cent lower risk of breast cancer recurrence compared to patients with the lowest intake of soy protein, according to findings from a study with breast cancer survivors from China.
The study adds to an ever-growing body of science supporting the role of soy, and the naturally-occurring isoflavones it contains, with improved breast health.
Soy isoflavones are naturally occurring oestrogen-like compounds. Protein-based nutritional supplements are now being recommended as way of reducing symptoms of menopause and an alternative to hormone replacement therapy.
Conflicting reports however question the beneficial effects of soy isoflavones... Some studies indicate that breast cancer cells in laboratory mice were stimulated by the isoflavones. However, population studies have shown that women with a high-soy diet generally have lower rates of breast cancer.
"Soy foods are naturally rich in isoflavones, a major group of phytoestrogens that have been hypothesized to reduce the risk of breast cancer. However, the oestrogen-like effect of isoflavones and the potential interaction between isoflavones and tamoxifen have led to concern about soy food consumption among breast cancer patients," wrote the researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The researchers analysed data from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study, a large, population-based study of 5,042 female breast cancer survivors aged between 20 and 75 in China.
After about four years of follow-up, 44 total deaths and 534 recurrences were documented. Soy food intake, as measured by either soy protein or soy isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with mortality and recurrence, said the researchers.
The researchers noted significant reductions in both mortality and breast cancer recurrence with increasing soy protein intake, up to a level of 11 grams per day. No additional benefits were observed with greater intake.
"In summary, in this population-based prospective study, we found that soy food intake is safe and was associated with lower mortality and recurrence among breast cancer patients... This study suggests that moderate soy food intake is safe and potentially beneficial for women with breast cancer," they concluded.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association Volume 302, Issue 22, Pages 2437-2443 "Soy Food Intake and Breast Cancer Survival
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Dietary Factors Influence Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates...
2009 estimates projected that in the United States alone 21,550 new cases of ovarian cancer would be diagnosed and 14,600 women would die of the disease.
Often diagnosed in late stages, ovarian cancer has an asymptomatic onset and a relatively low 5-year survival rate of about 45%.
Careful investigation linked to survivorship is critical. A study published in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, is among the first to evaluate possible diet associations with ovarian cancer survival. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago determined that there is a strong relationship between healthy eating and prolonged survival.
The subjects included 351 women diagnosed with incident epithelial ovarian cancer who participated in a previous case-control study. The original study collected demographic, clinico-pathologic, and lifestyle-related variables including diet. Each subject completed a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) where they were asked to report their usual dietary intake over the three to five years prior to their diagnosis.
To interpret the diet estimates into a meaningful way, the FFQ items were assigned to the major food groups reflected in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (DGA) including fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, dairy, fats and oils, sweets, and alcohol. Grains, meats, and dairy were further subdivided to "suggested" and "other" groups. The "suggested" subdivisions included healthier food choices, whereas the "other" subdivisions contained less desirable food selections.
The authors found that higher total fruit and vegetable consumption, and higher vegetable consumption alone led to a survival advantage. Likewise, a statistically significant improvement in survival was observed for the healthier grains. Higher intakes of less-healthy meats were specifically associated with a survival time disadvantage.
The researchers reported "The study findings suggest that food patterns three to five years prior to a diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer have the potential to influence survival time. The pre-diagnosis food patterns observed to yield a survival advantage after an epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosis reflect the characteristics commonly found in plant-based or low fat diets. These diets generally contain high levels of constituents that would be expected to protect against cancer and minimize ingestion of known carcinogens found in foods."
In further commentary, they write, "There's new evidence that dietary factors, particularly total fruit and vegetable, red and processed meat and milk intakes, may influence ovarian cancer survival. These findings corroborate earlier work by Nagle et al and are among only a select few studies of dietary associations with ovarian cancer recurrence and/or prognosis despite a significant and growing body of literature suggesting diet may influence ovarian cancer risk."
Journal Reference: Pre-diagnosis Food Patterns Are Associated with Length of Survival from Epithelial Ovarian Cancer. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 110, Issue 3 (March 2010)
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Women Who Drink Moderately Appear to Gain Less Weight Than Nondrinkers
Normal-weight women who drink a light to moderate amount of alcohol appear to gain less weight and have a lower risk of becoming overweight and obese than non-drinkers, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
More than half of American adults drink alcoholic beverages, according to background information in the article. Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram (with approximately 28 grams per ounce) and alcohol drinking may possibly lead to weight gain through an imbalance of energy consumed and energy burned. However, research has not consistently provided evidence that consuming alcohol is a risk factor for obesity. Scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston studied 19,220 U.S. women age 39 or older who had a body mass index (BMI) in the range classified as normal (18.5 to 25). On an initial questionnaire, participants reported how many alcoholic beverages they typically drank per day.
A total of 7,346 (38.2 percent) reported drinking no alcohol; 6,312 (32.8 percent) drank less than 5 grams; 3,865 (20.1 percent) drank 5 to less than 15 grams; 1,129 (5.9 percent) drank 15 to less than 30 grams; and 568 (3 percent) drank 30 grams per day or more.
Over an average of 13 years of follow-up, women on average gained weight progressively. Women who did not drink alcohol at all gained the most weight, with weight gain decreasing as alcohol intake increased. A total of 7,942 (41.3 percent) women who initially had normal weight become overweight or obese (BMI of 25 or higher), including 732 (3.8 percent) who become obese (BMI of 30 or higher). Compared with women who did not drink at all, those who consumed some but less than 40 grams per day of alcohol were less likely to become overweight or obese.
Women who drank 15 to less than 30 grams per day had the lowest risk, which was almost 30 percent lower than that of non-drinkers. "An inverse association between alcohol intake and risk of becoming overweight or obese was noted for all four types of alcoholic beverages [red wine, white wine, beer and liquor], with the strongest association found for red wine and a weak yet significant association for white wine" the authors write.
The authors caution that, given potential medical and psychosocial problems related to drinking alcohol, its beneficial and adverse effects for each individual must be considered before making any recommendation about its use. "Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the role of alcohol intake and alcohol metabolism in energy balance and to identify behavioral, physiological and genetic factors that may modify the alcohol effects," they conclude. This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. These grants provided funding for study conduct and data collection.
Journal Reference: Wang et al. Alcohol Consumption, Weight Gain, and Risk of Becoming Overweight in Middle-aged and Older Women. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2010; JAMA and Archives Journals.
