Green Tea Shows Small Effect on Cholesterol

Green tea, in a cup or a capsule, may shave off a few points of your "bad" cholesterol, a new research review suggests.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Green tea, in a cup or a capsule, may shave off a few points of your "bad" cholesterol, a new research review suggests.

Looking at 20 past clinical trials, researchers found that green tea trimmed 5 to 6 points more from people's total cholesterol and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels than dummy capsules or other inactive treatments.

The trials tested either green tea itself or capsules containing green-tea compounds called catechins, which are thought to decrease cholesterol absorption in the gut.

In general, green tea in a cup was more consistently effective than capsules. But the benefits overall were fairly small.

"The analysis suggests there is only a modest effect of green tea on cholesterol levels," said senior researcher Olivia J. Phung, an assistant professor of pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.

LDL cholesterol is considered optimal when it is below 100 milligrams per deciliter, whereas 160 mg/dL or more is considered high.

The researchers found no strong evidence that green tea boosted "good" HDL cholesterol, or cut triglycerides, another type of blood fat. So for people who have high cholesterol, green tea is no replacement for medication, Phung told Reuters Health in an email.

"If someone is already taking medication for their cholesterol," she said, "they should stick with it and not try to trade it for green tea -- either capsules or the beverage."

On the other hand, Phung noted, adding green tea to your diet could be one way to further improve your cholesterol numbers.

But green tea is not a dietary magic bullet. To keep your cholesterol in check, experts recommend getting plenty of high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables, and limiting saturated fat (from meat and full-fat dairy) in favor of "good" fats from fish and vegetable oils.

A good number of clinical trials have examined whether green tea, or green tea extracts, can benefit people's cholesterol levels. But they have come to mixed conclusions. One problem is that most of those trials have been small, which makes the findings less reliable.

So for their study, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Phung's team pooled the results of 20 clinical trials that involved a total of 1,415 adults.

In all of the trials, participants were randomly assigned to either use green tea everyday (as a beverage or capsule) or be part of "control" groups that took placebo capsules, drank a low-catechin tea or downed water in lieu of tea.

The trials lasted anywhere from three weeks to six months, with the green-tea users showing a bigger average decline in LDL and total cholesterol than their counterparts in the control groups.

The benefit seemed to be limited to people who already had high cholesterol when they entered the study.

Overall, teas appeared more effective than capsules. But Phung said there isn't enough data to be sure that the beverage is better than the extract.

"We would really need to have some head-to-head studies comparing the different forms of green tea in order to show which ones work more effectively," Phung said.

There are other questions, too—including what dose of green tea catechins is "ideal."

In the trials Phung's team studied, the daily catechin dose ranged from 145 milligrams to 3,000 milligrams. But the researchers were not able to test for a "dose-response" effect—which would have shown whether the cholesterol benefits increase as the catechin dose goes up.

As for side effects, green tea is considered safe in moderate amounts—though the drink and the extracts contain caffeine, which some people may need to avoid.

There have also been a few dozen cases of liver damage reported among people using green tea extracts, but it's not certain that the supplements are to blame.

The current study had no industry funding, and none of the researchers reports financial conflicts of interest.

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Women Suffering from Sleep Problems Face Triple the Risk of Fibromyalgia

Women with sleep disorders have a three times greater likelihood of developing fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, than those who enjoy restful sleep.

Women with sleep disorders have a three times greater likelihood of developing fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, than those who enjoy restful sleep. These are the findings of a new Norwegian study appearing in the journal Arthritis and Rhuematism, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

The results indicate that the more frequently a woman experiences sleep disturbances and insomnia, the greater the likelihood she will develop fibromyalgia within a decade. While the findings have revealed a link between sleep problems and the painful disorder that affects more than 5 million people over the age of 18 in the U.S. alone, the research does not imply that fitful sleep definitively causes the condition.

As with previous studies that have shown that poor sleep habits contribute to increased inflammation and a reduction in the ability of the body to manage pain, the results of the latest study do not define a direct relationship between sleep disorders and fibromyalgia.

Study co-author Paul J. Mork, Ph.D, a researcher at Trondheim’s Norwegian University of Science and Technology, noted, “Sleep problems are just one factor that may contribute to the development of fibromyalgia," He went on to explain, “Fibromyalgia is a complex pain syndrome and there are numerous other factors that may contribute to the development of this illness.”

Among patients who suffer from fibromyalgia, more than 90 percent are women, and the majority of these women report sleep disturbances. Moreover, the more sleep disturbances they encounter, the more severe the pain they report experiencing.

To look further into the matter, the researchers followed 12,350 women from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. All of the women were aged 20 years and older and were free from chronic pain at the start of the study. While about two-thirds of the study subjects reported no sleeping difficulties, another group reported sometimes experiencing insomnia or other sleep disturbances, while a third group reported frequent sleep problems.

After a decade, findings of the analysis revealed that 327 women (2.6 percent) had developed fibromyalgia. Among those who suffered occasional sleep issues at the beginning of the study, the risk for developing the illness was doubled, while for those who frequently suffered from sleep problems were found to have a three and one-half times greater likelihood of developing the condition.

Age was also found to be a significant factor. Among participants aged 45 years and older having reported frequent sleep problems, the risk for developing fibromyalgia was found to be five times greater than that of women who suffered no sleep disturbances, while for younger women the risk was threefold.

Although the study was the largest to date in examining the relationship between sleep problems and fibromyalgia, it was not without limitations. The results were dependent upon self-reporting by the participants as to sleep issues and fibromyalgia symptoms experienced.

Also, while factors that may contribute to the condition, such as depression, body mass index, and levels of education were taken into account, no data was included regarding anxiety, which is associated with both sleep issues and fibromyalgia. In addition, menopausal status, as well as history of physical or psychological trauma was not accounted for.

While the study authors acknowledged that further studies are needed to investigate whether early detection and treatment of sleep disturbance can reduce the risk of fibromyalgia in women, they also agree that sleep problems should be taken seriously.

Mork pointed out, “In addition to being a risk factor for fibromyalgia, sleep problems are also associated with increased risk of other chronic diseases.” This includes heart disease. He also added, “Early detection and proper treatment may therefore reduce the risk of future chronic disease.”

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More "Healthy" Patients Die After a Heart Attack

A new analysis of half a million heart attack patients found that people with the warning signs of heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, are more likely to survive their hospital stay than those with a cleaner bill of health.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new analysis of half a million heart attack patients found that people with the warning signs of heart disease—such as high blood pressure and cholesterol—are more likely to survive their hospital stay than those with a cleaner bill of health.

Even when taking into account influences such as age and weight, the more heart-related risk factors patients had, the lower their chances of dying.

While it may seem counterintuitive, researchers said one possible explanation for the finding is that people who already had known health problems might have been on medications, including statins and beta blockers, that helped protect them after a heart attack.

"It certainly shows clinicians that if you don't have risk factors but you've had a heart attack, don't assume that they're going to do well," Dr. Carl Lavie, from the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, told Reuters Health.

"On the other hand, it's not doomsday for the person that has all the bad risk factors—they can actually end up doing well," added Lavie, who wasn't involved in the study.

Data for the analysis came from a national registry of close to 550,000 first-time heart attacks in the U.S. between 1994 and 2006. During their hospital stays, doctors noted whether patients had some of the standard risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes, a family history of heart disease and if they were smokers.

Among all patients, more than 85 percent had at least one of those risk factors—and people with more of them had their heart attacks younger, on average.

Just over 50,000 of the patients in the study died in the hospital, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented this week at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida.

After taking into account the fact that people with no risk factors were more often older, and adjusting for weight, race and gender, the study found that non-smokers with no high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or family history of heart disease were still 50 percent more likely to die in the hospital than people with all of those risk factors.

One in seven of those with none of the heart warning signs died after suffering a heart attack, compared to one in 28 patients with all five risk factors who didn't survive.

Dr. John Canto from the Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Florida and his colleagues noted that patients with more risk factors were also more likely to get medications within the first 24 hours of their stay or to have heart surgery.

Those with pre-existing warning signs may also have been on heart-protecting medications before the heart attack, or had more regular contact with their doctors, Canto said -- but there's no way to know that for sure based on the data.

It's also possible that people without the traditional risk factors may have had other, unmeasured health risks that caused their heart attacks in the first place and upped their chance of death—or that something about their blood flow after an attack was different than in people with more health problems, researchers speculated.

The findings mean that doctors shouldn't view patients who otherwise seem healthy as a group that's bound to do well after a first heart attack, Canto's team wrote—in fact, they could do worse than other patients.

Still, the study doesn't suggest that smoking or having high blood pressure is in any way good for your heart, researchers emphasized.

"One of the important messages is that patients who have been diagnosed with a heart attack should not take this as evidence that those factors don't matter, or that having high cholesterol or high blood pressure protects them after the heart attack," said Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who didn't participate in the new research.

"What's not apparent here is that people with more risk factors have a much higher risk of having a heart attack to begin with," Lavie agreed.

Canto told Reuters Health that what's most important is that people with high blood pressure or cholesterol, for instance, are treated with medication or make diet and lifestyle changes.

"The general population really needs to identify these risk factors so they can potentially be treated, and these treatments will improve your outcome" after a heart attack, he said.

In addition, he added, "As one ages, just because you have no risk factors, doesn't mean you shouldn't be seeing a doctor on a regular basis."

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Pilates Upper Back Strengtheners for Posture

Gravity takes a toll on our bodies and building a strong core can help posture, keep our spine in a natural curved position, and prevent back pain.

What It Is:
We are constantly reminded of the toll gravity takes on our bodies and how much strength it takes to fight against it. This
is easily demonstrated when we see that sweet elderly woman crossing the street with a hunched back craning her neck so her eyes can find the horizon.

To begin fighting against the enormous force of gravity as well as all of our other duties and stresses that life heaps on us, we must first address posture. Finding the proper posture is a balancing act between the strength and flexibility of our muscles, and the mobility of our joints. We want everything to stack properly, which means keeping all of the natural curves of our spine intact. The cervical (neck) spine has a concave curve, the thoracic (upper/mid back) spine has a convex curve and the lumbar (lower back) has a concave curve. The perception of proper posture being a straight back is an incorrect one.

We need these natural curves in our back for it to function properly.

A key player in the posture game is the strength and flexibility of our upper back; the thoracic spine. Pilates works all the muscles in the body by stretching and strengthening simultaneously. This balance is the key to keeping the upper back strong and limber, and pain free.

Pilates is an integrated, holistic method. In the Pilates system muscles are not worked in isolation but work in sync with the core muscles. Everything radiates from the center. So, for example, when doing upper back exercises it is important to understand that you need to strengthen your core while simultaneously working your upper back. If you don't incorporate these very important Pilates Principles you will only succeed in developing the large muscles in the upper back (traps and rhomboids) while becoming hunched over because your core muscles (those muscles closest to the skeleton, that literally hug the bones) are not strong enough to hold the spine upright.

Our Goal:
With these upper back Pre-Pilates strengthening exercises you'll improve your shoulder stability, strengthen the upper back
muscles needed for improved posture, and enhance your head and neck stability while also reducing the chance of upper back
and neck injury.

Here’s How:

Exercise – Table Top

• Start on all fours on the hands and knees.
• Line the wrists up under the shoulders and the knees under the hips.
• Reach the spine long in both directions.
• Find all the natural curves in your spine. Make sure you are keeping the sitting bones wide and not gripping the glutes.
• At the same time make sure your collarbone is wide and the shoulders are gliding away from the ears.
• Pay attention to the shoulder blades and concentrate on keeping them spread apart across the back. In this exercise we are trying to strengthen the muscle under the shoulder blades, the serratus anterior. It is this muscles job is to keep the shoulder blades apart.
• Keeping all four points of your table square, slide the left arm forward on the floor with the thumb pointing to the ceiling.
• Once the arm is fully extended exhale and bring the arm up from below the shoulder blade so the hand and shoulder are in line.
• Hold and take a few inhales and exhales.
• Everything in the spine should have remained the same when the arm lifted.
• Gently bring the arm down and switch sides.
• Repeat four to six times on each side.

Exercise – Prone Stick Up

• Lie prone (on your belly) on a mat.
• Spread your legs hip distance apart.
• Rest your forehead on a folded towel.
• Extend your arms out to the side forming two 90-degree angles. (Keep the shoulder in line with the bent elbow and the bent elbow in line with the wrist,) The arms are in the stick-up position (as if you were being held up)
• Keep the feet pressed into the floor.
• Inhale and lift the head and torso off of the floor.
• Keep lengthening from both sides of the spine as you hover up.
• Exhale and slowly release.
• Remember to keep the back of the neck long and the collarbone wide as you hover. Also keep reaching through the crown of the head.
• Do five repetitions and make sure to keep the shoulder blades apart as you hover up.
• Do another five repetitions, this time bringing the shoulders blades together as you hover up.

Hot Tip:

• For an advanced version of Table Top you can lift the arm and opposite leg at the same time.
• On the inhale, extend arm and opposite leg out onto the floor.
• On the exhale, lift the long limbs up so they are in line with the torso.
• Nothing in the back should tilt or collapse.
• The spine should stay exactly the same as the arm and leg are lifted.

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