Differences in Behavior of Cat Breeds

Marchei P, Diverio S, Falocci N et al: Breed differences in behavioural response to challenging situations in kittens, Physiol Behav 102:276, 2011.
 

These researchers evaluated the behavioral responses of Oriental/Siamese/Abyssinian (OSA) kittens with Norwegian Forest (NF) kittens as part of an ongoing study investigating animal behavior. They observed kittens’ responses to a potentially threatening object (TO), in this case a metal spring spontaneously bouncing out of its container. Heart rates and behaviors were recorded, and showed that NF kittens exhibited an avoidance response to the TO, as well as high scores for exploration and escape attempts.  The OSA kittens had a more passive coping strategy, and low arousability predisposition. The researchers concluded that the variation in responses likely depended on different patterns of neurological development among breeds with a different strategy towards challenge – OSA kittens had a more passive coping strategy compared to the more active response (avoidance, escape) of NF kittens. [MK]

Related articles: 

Marchei P, Diverio S, Falocci N et al: Breed differences in behavioural development in kittens, Physiology & behavior 96:522, 2009.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation

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Marchei P, Diverio S, Falocci N et al: Breed differences in behavioural response to challenging situations in kittens, Physiol Behav 102:276, 2011.
 

These researchers evaluated the behavioral responses of Oriental/Siamese/Abyssinian (OSA) kittens with Norwegian Forest (NF) kittens as part of an ongoing study investigating animal behavior. They observed kittens’ responses to a potentially threatening object (TO), in this case a metal spring spontaneously bouncing out of its container. Heart rates and behaviors were recorded, and showed that NF kittens exhibited an avoidance response to the TO, as well as high scores for exploration and escape attempts.  The OSA kittens had a more passive coping strategy, and low arousability predisposition. The researchers concluded that the variation in responses likely depended on different patterns of neurological development among breeds with a different strategy towards challenge – OSA kittens had a more passive coping strategy compared to the more active response (avoidance, escape) of NF kittens. [MK]

Related articles: 

Marchei P, Diverio S, Falocci N et al: Breed differences in behavioural development in kittens, Physiology & behavior 96:522, 2009.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation

Join us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Read More

Turmeric: Nature’s Powerful Anti-Inflammatory

Some of the best Indian food I’ve ever tasted was cooked in London. I always knew that the British loved Indian cuisine and that they once held governance over the country. But what I didn’t know was that curry was introduced to Indian cuisine by the Brits! (Just a little fun fact to chew on).

In traditional cultures that are thousands of years old, like India, there are deep traditions of cooking daily meals with medicinal roots and herbs. These herbs act as preventive measures for sustaining good health, and prevention is the cornerstone of India’s traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

Turmeric is one such medicinal root that has made its way into a vast number of Indian recipes. Aside from your standard Chicken or Goat curries, there is a whole list of Indian dishes that contain flavorful thermogenic ingredients like cardamom, coriander, ginger, cloves, chili and turmeric. Not only are the recipes tasty, the ones containing turmeric are especially healthful.

Research by Sarker et al. notes its powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant properties. Moreover, the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health have this to say: “Laboratory and animal research has demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer properties of turmeric and its constituent curcumin.”

Some of the best Indian food I’ve ever tasted was cooked in London. I always knew that the British loved Indian cuisine and that they once held governance over the country. But what I didn’t know was that curry was introduced to Indian cuisine by the Brits! (Just a little fun fact to chew on).

In traditional cultures that are thousands of years old, like India, there are deep traditions of cooking daily meals with medicinal roots and herbs. These herbs act as preventive measures for sustaining good health, and prevention is the cornerstone of India’s traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

Turmeric is one such medicinal root that has made its way into a vast number of Indian recipes. Aside from your standard Chicken or Goat curries, there is a whole list of Indian dishes that contain flavorful thermogenic ingredients like cardamom, coriander, ginger, cloves, chili and turmeric. Not only are the recipes tasty, the ones containing turmeric are especially healthful.

Research by Sarker et al. notes its powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant properties. Moreover, the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health have this to say: “Laboratory and animal research has demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer properties of turmeric and its constituent curcumin.”

Read More

How to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer By 50%

I have some vital information for you that can literally save your life, save you from dying from cancer; not just from getting cancer, but from dying from it. I came across this absolutely vital information while researching my new book called, Dark Deception, info which is just too important to keep under wraps until the book's release in a year's time.

Cancer is now the number one cause of death in the country, having surpassed heart disease a few years ago.

Please check out the graph in the video that illustrates the relationship between latitude, sun exposure and death rates from cancer. Remember the vertical axis shows the number of cancer-related deaths per 100,000, while the horizontal axis indicates latitude. It clearly shows that cancer-deaths go up significantly, the farther away from the equator one lives.

Here's why. With sun exposure, UVB radiation from the sun converts cholesterol to vitamin D, one of the most potent anticancer vitamins. See the connection? Please keep your vitamin D levels in a healthy range. If you're taking oral vitamin D in cod liver oil or a supplement, you need to measure your vitamin D blood levels to avoid overdosing. Take a simple blood test to help you keep your vitamin D levels in a safe, optimal range, and go to my vitamin D testing page for more details

While in Maui this winter, I heard a number of heartbreaking stories from folks there, who told me of close relatives who either had cancer, were dying from it or had died from it. How tragic! With this new information about vitamin D in mind, I said to them, "I don't know your relative." I asked, "But did they stay in the sun? Do they have a tan?", and even though some of these people lived in Maui, it seems every one of these people did not get much sun and were pale. This was a giant clue, empirically confirming what I was learning about sun exposure.

The best and safest way to get vitamin D is from the sun. The safe way to get sun exposure is to just go out enough so that your skin turns the very lightest pink. You'll also need enough of your skin exposed to sun. Exposing only your face and hands while going from office to car is not enough for conversion into vitamin D. We must remain sensible in our approach to this issue. This means: PLEASE DON'T GET SUNBURNED!

Bear in mind unique risk factors for dark-complexioned individuals. So if you're African-American, from the Middle East or India and live in America or Europe or in a very northern latitude, you're at very high risk for developing these cancers, as high as four times the risk. Darker skin serves as a filter, causing the need for two to five times as much sunlight as someone with very pale skin.

Also be careful about using most sunblocks as they are dangerous.If you are looking for a safe one I have researched this and recommend Active Full Spectrum Sun Block. If you can't easily find it I put it in my store for your convenience.

In light-skinned individuals, overexposure to sun can also be problematic.

Normally, skin cancer is not going to be the melanoma type, for which there are multiple causes. Follow the link below to learn more. But having sun exposure can increase the risk of other types of skin cancers, which while not as dangerous as melanoma, are easily avoided with cautious sun exposure

BOTTOM LINE: NEVER GET SUNBURNED!

Avoid commercial sun blocks, which contain toxic chemicals that enter your bloodstream through the skin, and follow the link below for more info and alternatives to these products.

If you have any questions at all about the relationship about sun and skin cancer please be sure to visit my article on that topic.

Stay informed. Have a healthy, careful, appropriate relationship with sunlight.

I have some vital information for you that can literally save your life, save you from dying from cancer; not just from getting cancer, but from dying from it. I came across this absolutely vital information while researching my new book called, Dark Deception, info which is just too important to keep under wraps until the book's release in a year's time.

Cancer is now the number one cause of death in the country, having surpassed heart disease a few years ago.

Please check out the graph in the video that illustrates the relationship between latitude, sun exposure and death rates from cancer. Remember the vertical axis shows the number of cancer-related deaths per 100,000, while the horizontal axis indicates latitude. It clearly shows that cancer-deaths go up significantly, the farther away from the equator one lives.

Here's why. With sun exposure, UVB radiation from the sun converts cholesterol to vitamin D, one of the most potent anticancer vitamins. See the connection? Please keep your vitamin D levels in a healthy range. If you're taking oral vitamin D in cod liver oil or a supplement, you need to measure your vitamin D blood levels to avoid overdosing. Take a simple blood test to help you keep your vitamin D levels in a safe, optimal range, and go to my vitamin D testing page for more details

While in Maui this winter, I heard a number of heartbreaking stories from folks there, who told me of close relatives who either had cancer, were dying from it or had died from it. How tragic! With this new information about vitamin D in mind, I said to them, "I don't know your relative." I asked, "But did they stay in the sun? Do they have a tan?", and even though some of these people lived in Maui, it seems every one of these people did not get much sun and were pale. This was a giant clue, empirically confirming what I was learning about sun exposure.

The best and safest way to get vitamin D is from the sun. The safe way to get sun exposure is to just go out enough so that your skin turns the very lightest pink. You'll also need enough of your skin exposed to sun. Exposing only your face and hands while going from office to car is not enough for conversion into vitamin D. We must remain sensible in our approach to this issue. This means: PLEASE DON'T GET SUNBURNED!

Bear in mind unique risk factors for dark-complexioned individuals. So if you're African-American, from the Middle East or India and live in America or Europe or in a very northern latitude, you're at very high risk for developing these cancers, as high as four times the risk. Darker skin serves as a filter, causing the need for two to five times as much sunlight as someone with very pale skin.

Also be careful about using most sunblocks as they are dangerous.If you are looking for a safe one I have researched this and recommend Active Full Spectrum Sun Block. If you can't easily find it I put it in my store for your convenience.

In light-skinned individuals, overexposure to sun can also be problematic.

Normally, skin cancer is not going to be the melanoma type, for which there are multiple causes. Follow the link below to learn more. But having sun exposure can increase the risk of other types of skin cancers, which while not as dangerous as melanoma, are easily avoided with cautious sun exposure

BOTTOM LINE: NEVER GET SUNBURNED!

Avoid commercial sun blocks, which contain toxic chemicals that enter your bloodstream through the skin, and follow the link below for more info and alternatives to these products.

If you have any questions at all about the relationship about sun and skin cancer please be sure to visit my article on that topic.

Stay informed. Have a healthy, careful, appropriate relationship with sunlight.

Read More

If food addiction exists, blame the brain -- not the cookies

By Marissa Cevallos, HealthKey

April 5, 2011, 9:02 a.m.

To the food lovers who can't deny themselves an extra cookie (or 10): The problem may begin in your brain, where, scientists say, chemical surges affect your response to food, much in the way an addict responds to alcohol or drugs.

The possibility of food addiction has existed for some time. A new Yale study gives it a boost. In that research, scientists watched the brain activity of women tantalized, and then rewarded, with a chocolate milkshake. Their neural activity was similar to that of drug addicts, scientists said, as brain imaging showed activity surging in regions that govern cravings and falling off in those centers that curb urges.

High-fat and high-sugar foods tend to trigger the strongest reward responses in the brain, said the researchers, a feature that once would have helped our species survive. In America today, we don’t have as much of a problem finding high-calorie food.

Here, essentially, is what occurs in the brain of a drug abuser. Most abused drugs work by flooding the brain’s circuits with the feel-good chemical dopamine. The feeling is pleasurable, so the body wants to get the high again. But abused drugs overload the brain’s circuits, sometimes with two to 10 times as much dopamine as is derived from natural feel-good activities such as eating and sex. The brain adjusts to the overwhelming amount of dopamine, so the user needs more of the drug to achieve the same result.

Whether the desire for sugar-filled candy is truly similar to the craving to snort another white powder is uncertain. There’s evidence that rats can be addicted to sugar, demonstrating binge eating, withdrawal and craving. To a lesser extent, animals may binge on fatty foods too. That makes sense to anyone who has struggled to put the lid back on a Pringles can. But some psychologists argue that those results don’t apply to humans, and the evidence isn’t strong enough to say for sure that sugar addiction, or any other food addiction, plays a role in obesity and eating disorders.

Further, psychologists themselves are unsure how to think about overeating and, in particular, binge eating. Psychologists have been divided  on whether binge eating should be its own psychiatric disorder in the profession's’s diagnostic manual or included with anorexia and bulimia as an eating disorder. By a 2007 estimate, 2% of men and 3.5% of women experience symptoms of binge eating in their lifetimes.

Whether overeating is truly an addiction, some sufferers treat it as such. Overeaters Anonymous is modeled after the 12 steps in groups like Alcoholics Anonymous to help members recover from compulsive eating. Members are urged to eliminate foods that give them cravings, often processed foods with refined sugar.

If food is truly an addiction, that could open the door for interventions that work for drug addicts, such as medicine and behavioral changes. But overeating can often be a warning sign of overwhelming stress and larger emotional problems, and simply blaming it on the brain’s love of dopamine may be masking other problems. Trying to cope with a job loss, stress at work or relationship troubles can all trigger overeating.

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

By Marissa Cevallos, HealthKey

April 5, 2011, 9:02 a.m.

To the food lovers who can't deny themselves an extra cookie (or 10): The problem may begin in your brain, where, scientists say, chemical surges affect your response to food, much in the way an addict responds to alcohol or drugs.

The possibility of food addiction has existed for some time. A new Yale study gives it a boost. In that research, scientists watched the brain activity of women tantalized, and then rewarded, with a chocolate milkshake. Their neural activity was similar to that of drug addicts, scientists said, as brain imaging showed activity surging in regions that govern cravings and falling off in those centers that curb urges.

High-fat and high-sugar foods tend to trigger the strongest reward responses in the brain, said the researchers, a feature that once would have helped our species survive. In America today, we don’t have as much of a problem finding high-calorie food.

Here, essentially, is what occurs in the brain of a drug abuser. Most abused drugs work by flooding the brain’s circuits with the feel-good chemical dopamine. The feeling is pleasurable, so the body wants to get the high again. But abused drugs overload the brain’s circuits, sometimes with two to 10 times as much dopamine as is derived from natural feel-good activities such as eating and sex. The brain adjusts to the overwhelming amount of dopamine, so the user needs more of the drug to achieve the same result.

Whether the desire for sugar-filled candy is truly similar to the craving to snort another white powder is uncertain. There’s evidence that rats can be addicted to sugar, demonstrating binge eating, withdrawal and craving. To a lesser extent, animals may binge on fatty foods too. That makes sense to anyone who has struggled to put the lid back on a Pringles can. But some psychologists argue that those results don’t apply to humans, and the evidence isn’t strong enough to say for sure that sugar addiction, or any other food addiction, plays a role in obesity and eating disorders.

Further, psychologists themselves are unsure how to think about overeating and, in particular, binge eating. Psychologists have been divided  on whether binge eating should be its own psychiatric disorder in the profession's’s diagnostic manual or included with anorexia and bulimia as an eating disorder. By a 2007 estimate, 2% of men and 3.5% of women experience symptoms of binge eating in their lifetimes.

Whether overeating is truly an addiction, some sufferers treat it as such. Overeaters Anonymous is modeled after the 12 steps in groups like Alcoholics Anonymous to help members recover from compulsive eating. Members are urged to eliminate foods that give them cravings, often processed foods with refined sugar.

If food is truly an addiction, that could open the door for interventions that work for drug addicts, such as medicine and behavioral changes. But overeating can often be a warning sign of overwhelming stress and larger emotional problems, and simply blaming it on the brain’s love of dopamine may be masking other problems. Trying to cope with a job loss, stress at work or relationship troubles can all trigger overeating.

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

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Better a Sprint Than a Marathon: Brief Intense Exercise Better Than Endurance Training for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2011) — Exercise is important for preventing cardiovascular disease, especially in children and adolescents, but is all exercise equally beneficial? New research published April 5 in theAmerican Journal of Human Biology reveals that high intensity exercise is more beneficial than traditional endurance training.

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality throughout the world and its risk factors have their origins in childhood," said lead author Duncan Buchan from the University of the West of Scotland. "Our research examines the effects of brief, intense exercise when compared to traditional endurance exercise on the markers of CVD in young people."

Buchan's team recruited a group of volunteer school children, forty seven boys and ten girls, and randomly divided the group into moderate (MOD) and high intensity (HIT) exercise teams.

The two groups performed three weekly exercise sessions over 7 weeks. The HIT group's training consisted of a series of 20 meter sprints over 30 seconds. In contrast the MOD group ran steadily for a period of 20 minutes.

By the end of the study the MOD group had completed 420 minutes of exercise while the HIT group had trained for a shorter 63 minutes. The estimated energy expenditure for the HIT intervention was 907.2 kcal in comparison to 4410 kcal for the MOD group.

The results revealed that both groups demonstrated improved CVD risk factors. However, the total exercise time over seven weeks was six times higher for the MOD group compared to the HIT group. Thus, significant improvements in CVD risk factors in the HIT group occurred in only 15% of the total exercise time.

These findings demonstrate that brief, intense exercise is a time efficient means for improving CVD risk factors in adolescents. Although limited to relatively small samples, the findings demonstrate significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure, body composition and insulin resistance in healthy adolescent youth after a 7 week intervention of different exercise intensities.

"This is the first study to demonstrate the effects of a novel interval training programme on both traditional and novel CVD risk factors in adolescents," concluded Buchan. "Larger scale and extended interventions must be undertaken so that the long term impact and effects of intermittent training programmes on unfavourable metabolic profiles may be investigated further."

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2011) — Exercise is important for preventing cardiovascular disease, especially in children and adolescents, but is all exercise equally beneficial? New research published April 5 in theAmerican Journal of Human Biology reveals that high intensity exercise is more beneficial than traditional endurance training.

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality throughout the world and its risk factors have their origins in childhood," said lead author Duncan Buchan from the University of the West of Scotland. "Our research examines the effects of brief, intense exercise when compared to traditional endurance exercise on the markers of CVD in young people."

Buchan's team recruited a group of volunteer school children, forty seven boys and ten girls, and randomly divided the group into moderate (MOD) and high intensity (HIT) exercise teams.

The two groups performed three weekly exercise sessions over 7 weeks. The HIT group's training consisted of a series of 20 meter sprints over 30 seconds. In contrast the MOD group ran steadily for a period of 20 minutes.

By the end of the study the MOD group had completed 420 minutes of exercise while the HIT group had trained for a shorter 63 minutes. The estimated energy expenditure for the HIT intervention was 907.2 kcal in comparison to 4410 kcal for the MOD group.

The results revealed that both groups demonstrated improved CVD risk factors. However, the total exercise time over seven weeks was six times higher for the MOD group compared to the HIT group. Thus, significant improvements in CVD risk factors in the HIT group occurred in only 15% of the total exercise time.

These findings demonstrate that brief, intense exercise is a time efficient means for improving CVD risk factors in adolescents. Although limited to relatively small samples, the findings demonstrate significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure, body composition and insulin resistance in healthy adolescent youth after a 7 week intervention of different exercise intensities.

"This is the first study to demonstrate the effects of a novel interval training programme on both traditional and novel CVD risk factors in adolescents," concluded Buchan. "Larger scale and extended interventions must be undertaken so that the long term impact and effects of intermittent training programmes on unfavourable metabolic profiles may be investigated further."

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What Your Doctor May Not Know About Your Pain Pills

Most people who have chronic pain — a bad back, arthritis, or many other ailments — see their primary care physician for treatment. If ibuprofen doesn't ease the ache, these doctors often prescribe narcotic drugs like Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.

Although the drugs, which trace their roots to the opium poppy, reduce pain, they also carry significant risks and can cause breathing to stop in large doses or when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Yet research shows that many primary care doctors aren't monitoring their patients use of the medicines to make sure they aren't abused or misused.

It's not an academic issue. More people die from accidental overdoses of prescription opioids annually than they do from cocaine and heroin combined: 11,499 in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Patient monitoring can take many forms, all generally aimed at making sure that patients take only the drugs prescribed to them — and don't share or sell them. Some doctors ask patient to sign "pain contracts" or "opioid treatment agreements" that spell out these measures. But a recent study found that three of the most common strategies to ensure patients comply with their drug regimens aren't usedunderused by primary care doctors.

The study, published in February in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, examined the medical records of 1,612 chronic pain patients at eight primary care clinics in the Philadelphia area over a five-year period ending in 2008. It found that only 8 percent were given urine tests, half were scheduled for office visits at least once every six months, and 76 percent were restricted from refilling their prescriptions early.

Part of the problem is practical. "It's easy to say that it's useful to do prescription monitoring and urine screening, but building this stuff into day-to-day practice is hard," says Perry Fine, president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

The other sticking point is a lack of education, of physicians and the general public, about how to prescribe and take these drugs safely, say experts. "Primary care doctors haven't been taught a lot about pain management," says Penney Cowan, founder and executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association, a patient advocacy group. This leads them to sometimes undertreat pain, on the one hand, or prescribe it without proper monitoring, on the other.

"Those who need those drugs should be able to get access," she says. "But if a healthcare provider chooses to give them opoids, then patients need to be educated."

Most people who have chronic pain — a bad back, arthritis, or many other ailments — see their primary care physician for treatment. If ibuprofen doesn't ease the ache, these doctors often prescribe narcotic drugs like Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.

Although the drugs, which trace their roots to the opium poppy, reduce pain, they also carry significant risks and can cause breathing to stop in large doses or when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Yet research shows that many primary care doctors aren't monitoring their patients use of the medicines to make sure they aren't abused or misused.

It's not an academic issue. More people die from accidental overdoses of prescription opioids annually than they do from cocaine and heroin combined: 11,499 in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Patient monitoring can take many forms, all generally aimed at making sure that patients take only the drugs prescribed to them — and don't share or sell them. Some doctors ask patient to sign "pain contracts" or "opioid treatment agreements" that spell out these measures. But a recent study found that three of the most common strategies to ensure patients comply with their drug regimens aren't usedunderused by primary care doctors.

The study, published in February in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, examined the medical records of 1,612 chronic pain patients at eight primary care clinics in the Philadelphia area over a five-year period ending in 2008. It found that only 8 percent were given urine tests, half were scheduled for office visits at least once every six months, and 76 percent were restricted from refilling their prescriptions early.

Part of the problem is practical. "It's easy to say that it's useful to do prescription monitoring and urine screening, but building this stuff into day-to-day practice is hard," says Perry Fine, president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

The other sticking point is a lack of education, of physicians and the general public, about how to prescribe and take these drugs safely, say experts. "Primary care doctors haven't been taught a lot about pain management," says Penney Cowan, founder and executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association, a patient advocacy group. This leads them to sometimes undertreat pain, on the one hand, or prescribe it without proper monitoring, on the other.

"Those who need those drugs should be able to get access," she says. "But if a healthcare provider chooses to give them opoids, then patients need to be educated."

Read More

Common Dietary Fat and Intestinal Microbes Linked to Heart Disease

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2011) — A new pathway has been discovered that links a common dietary lipid and intestinal microflora with an increased risk of heart disease, according to a Cleveland Clinic study published in the latest issue of Nature.

The study shows that people who eat a diet containing a common nutrient found in animal products (such as eggs, liver and other meats, cheese and other dairy products, fish, shellfish) are not predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely on their genetic make-up, but rather, how the micro-organisms that live in our digestive tracts metabolize a specific lipid -- phosphatidyl choline (also called lecithin). Lecithin and its metabolite, choline, are also found in many commercial baked goods, dietary supplements, and even children's vitamins.

The study examined clinical data from 1,875 patients who were referred for cardiac evaluation, as well as plasma samples from mice. When fed to mice, lecithin and choline were converted to a heart disease-forming product by the intestinal microbes, which promoted fatty plaque deposits to form within arteries (atherosclerosis); in humans, higher blood levels of choline and the heart disease forming microorganism products are strongly associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk.

"When two people both eat a similar diet but one gets heart disease and the other doesn't, we currently think the cardiac disease develops because of their genetic differences; but our studies show that is only a part of the equation," said Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., Staff in Lerner Research Institute's Department of Cell Biology and the Heart and Vascular Institute's Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Section Head of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic, and senior author of the study. "Actually, differences in gut flora metabolism of the diet from one person to another appear to have a big effect on whether one develops heart disease. Gut flora is a filter for our largest environmental exposure -- what we eat."

Dr. Hazen added, "Another remarkable finding is that choline -- a natural semi-essential vitamin -- when taken in excess, promoted atherosclerotic heart disease. Over the past few years we have seen a huge increase in the addition of choline into multi-vitamins -- even in those marketed to our children -- yet it is this same substance that our study shows the gut flora can convert into something that has a direct, negative impact on heart disease risk by forming an atherosclerosis-causing by-product."

In studies of more than 2,000 subjects altogether, blood levels of three metabolites of the dietary lipid lecithin were shown to strongly predict risk for cardiovascular disease: choline (a B-complex vitamin), trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO, a product that requires gut flora to be produced and is derived from the choline group of the lipid) and betaine (a metabolite of choline).

"The studies identify TMAO as a blood test that can be used in subjects to see who is especially at risk for cardiac disease, and in need of more strict dietary intervention to lower their cardiac risk," Dr. Hazen said.

Healthy amounts of choline, betaine and TMAO are found in many fruits, vegetables and fish. These three metabolites are commonly marketed as direct-to-consumer supplements, supposedly offering increased brain health, weight loss and/or muscle growth.

These compounds also are commonly used as feed additives for cattle, poultry or fish because they may make muscle grow faster; whether muscle from such livestock have higher levels of these compounds remains unknown.

"Knowing that gut flora generates a pro-atherosclerotic metabolite from a common dietary lipid opens up new opportunities for improved diagnostics, prevention and treatment of heart disease," Dr. Hazen said. "These studies suggest we can intelligently design a heart healthy yogurt or other form of probiotic for preventing heart disease in the future. It also appears there is a need for considering the risk vs. benefits of some commonly used supplements."

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2011) — A new pathway has been discovered that links a common dietary lipid and intestinal microflora with an increased risk of heart disease, according to a Cleveland Clinic study published in the latest issue of Nature.

The study shows that people who eat a diet containing a common nutrient found in animal products (such as eggs, liver and other meats, cheese and other dairy products, fish, shellfish) are not predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely on their genetic make-up, but rather, how the micro-organisms that live in our digestive tracts metabolize a specific lipid -- phosphatidyl choline (also called lecithin). Lecithin and its metabolite, choline, are also found in many commercial baked goods, dietary supplements, and even children's vitamins.

The study examined clinical data from 1,875 patients who were referred for cardiac evaluation, as well as plasma samples from mice. When fed to mice, lecithin and choline were converted to a heart disease-forming product by the intestinal microbes, which promoted fatty plaque deposits to form within arteries (atherosclerosis); in humans, higher blood levels of choline and the heart disease forming microorganism products are strongly associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk.

"When two people both eat a similar diet but one gets heart disease and the other doesn't, we currently think the cardiac disease develops because of their genetic differences; but our studies show that is only a part of the equation," said Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., Staff in Lerner Research Institute's Department of Cell Biology and the Heart and Vascular Institute's Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Section Head of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic, and senior author of the study. "Actually, differences in gut flora metabolism of the diet from one person to another appear to have a big effect on whether one develops heart disease. Gut flora is a filter for our largest environmental exposure -- what we eat."

Dr. Hazen added, "Another remarkable finding is that choline -- a natural semi-essential vitamin -- when taken in excess, promoted atherosclerotic heart disease. Over the past few years we have seen a huge increase in the addition of choline into multi-vitamins -- even in those marketed to our children -- yet it is this same substance that our study shows the gut flora can convert into something that has a direct, negative impact on heart disease risk by forming an atherosclerosis-causing by-product."

In studies of more than 2,000 subjects altogether, blood levels of three metabolites of the dietary lipid lecithin were shown to strongly predict risk for cardiovascular disease: choline (a B-complex vitamin), trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO, a product that requires gut flora to be produced and is derived from the choline group of the lipid) and betaine (a metabolite of choline).

"The studies identify TMAO as a blood test that can be used in subjects to see who is especially at risk for cardiac disease, and in need of more strict dietary intervention to lower their cardiac risk," Dr. Hazen said.

Healthy amounts of choline, betaine and TMAO are found in many fruits, vegetables and fish. These three metabolites are commonly marketed as direct-to-consumer supplements, supposedly offering increased brain health, weight loss and/or muscle growth.

These compounds also are commonly used as feed additives for cattle, poultry or fish because they may make muscle grow faster; whether muscle from such livestock have higher levels of these compounds remains unknown.

"Knowing that gut flora generates a pro-atherosclerotic metabolite from a common dietary lipid opens up new opportunities for improved diagnostics, prevention and treatment of heart disease," Dr. Hazen said. "These studies suggest we can intelligently design a heart healthy yogurt or other form of probiotic for preventing heart disease in the future. It also appears there is a need for considering the risk vs. benefits of some commonly used supplements."

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