The nutrition literature and authoritative reports increasingly recognise the concept of ultra-processed foods (UPF), as a descriptor of unhealthy diets. UPFs are now prevalent in diets worldwide. ...This review aims to identify and appraise the studies on healthy participants that investigated associations between levels of UPF consumption and health outcomes. This involved a systematic search for extant literature; integration and interpretation of findings from diverse study types, populations, health outcomes and dietary assessments; and quality appraisal. Of 43 studies reviewed, 37 found dietary UPF exposure associated with at least one adverse health outcome. Among adults, these included overweight, obesity and cardio-metabolic risks; cancer, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; irritable bowel syndrome, depression and frailty conditions; and all-cause mortality. Among children and adolescents, these included cardio-metabolic risks and asthma. No study reported an association between UPF and beneficial health outcomes. Most findings were derived from observational studies and evidence of plausible biological mechanisms to increase confidence in the veracity of these observed associations is steadily evolving. There is now a considerable body of evidence supporting the use of UPFs as a scientific concept to assess the 'healthiness' of foods within the context of dietary patterns and to help inform the development of dietary guidelines and nutrition policy actions.
Several well-controlled clinical trials have shown that prolonged antibiotic therapy has no benefit in relieving posttreatment Lyme disease symptoms. However, some insist that such symptoms are due ...to a persistent Borrelia burgdorferi infection requiring prolonged antibiotic therapy to resolve. This unproven view is bolstered by the results of in vitro experiments where small numbers of viable B. burgdorferi can be detected after treatment with antibiotics. The results described in the present work suggest that the presence of persisters can best be explained by classic biochemical kinetics and that there are alternative explanations for this phenomenon that appears to have no clinical significance.
There is much confusion and misinformation about the diagnosis of Lyme disease, as well as its treatment. This review explains why one cannot make a correct diagnosis of Lyme disease based on ...symptoms alone. It also provides evidence to support the validity of two-tier testing for the laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease. The public health consequences of failing to consider these issues are discussed.
Breastfeeding, breastmilk substitutes and first food systems
Breastmilk is a personalised source of early-life nutrition, providing optimal nutrients in volumes regulated by the mother-child feeding ...dyad and biological factors that are crucial for the development of the child (Victora et al., 2016). To achieve optimal growth, development and health the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends infants are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life and thereafter receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to 2 years of age or beyond (World Health Organization WHO, 2003). The WHO/UNICEF Global strategy for infant and young child feeding (GSIYCF) calls on governments to implement actions to support, promote and protect breastfeeding, including adoption of The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions (The International Code) into national legislation.
The role of processed foods in nutrition transition in the Pacific is receiving some attention in the context of a significant obesity and diet-related noncommunicable disease health burden. However, ...trends, patterns and underlying drivers of processed food markets in the Pacific are not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate recent trends and patterns of processed food markets in the region and interpret the findings by engaging key literature on relevant food systems drivers.
We conducted a mixed-methods approach involving two steps; (1) We analysed Euromonitor market sales data for processed food and beverage products sold from 2004-2018 for 16 countries differentiated by income level, and (2) guided by a food systems conceptual framework, we drew upon key literature to understand the likely drivers of our observations.
We observed plateaus and declines in processed food sales in some high-income countries but increases in upper-middle and lower-middle income countries, and most rapidly in the latter. Beverage markets appear to be stagnating across all income groups. Carbonated soft drinks, baked goods, vegetable oils, processed meats, noodles and sweet biscuits made up the majority of sales in transitioning countries. These observations are likely a result of income growth, urbanising populations, trade and globalisation, and various policies implemented by Pacific governments.
A processed foods nutrition transition is well underway in the Pacific region and accelerating most prominently in lower-middle income countries.
Straight Talk About Chronic Lyme Disease Baker, Phillip J.
The American journal of medicine,
June 2018, 2018-06-00, 20180601, Letnik:
131, Številka:
6
Journal Article
There has been a growing interest in understanding the role of the lateral habenula (LHb) in reward processing, affect regulation, and goal-directed behaviors. The LHb gets major inputs from the ...habenula-projecting globus pallidus and the mPFC, sending its efferents to the dopaminergic VTA and SNc, serotonergic dorsal raphe nuclei, and the GABAergic rostromedial tegmental nucleus. Recent studies have made advances in our understanding of the LHb circuit organization, yet the precise mechanisms of its involvement in complex behaviors are largely unknown. To begin to address this unresolved question, we present here emerging cross-species perspectives with a goal to provide a more refined understanding of the role of the LHb circuits in reward and cognition. We begin by highlighting recent findings from rodent experiments using optogenetics, electrophysiology, molecular, pharmacology, and tracing techniques that reveal diverse neural phenotypes in the LHb circuits that may underlie previously undescribed behavioral functions. We then discuss results from electrophysiological studies in macaques that suggest that the LHb cooperates with the anterior cingulate cortex to monitor action outcomes and signal behavioral adjustment. Finally, we provide an integrated summary of cross-species findings and discuss how further research on the connectivity, neural signaling, and physiology of the LHb circuits can deepen our understanding of the role of the LHb in normal and maladaptive behaviors associated with mental illnesses and drug abuse.
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