This Week In Wellness

And This Week In Wellness a study in the British Medical journal analysing Australian births has suggested that for low-risk pregnancies birthing at home is just as safe and has a 6 times higher chance of resulting in a “normal birth”.

Professor Caroline Homer, director of the UTS Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health says “home births are associated with fewer incidences of induced labour, epidural, vacuum or forceps delivery and C Sections and there are no differences in the death rates for babies born in hospitals, compared with those born at home or in midwife run birth centres.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e029192

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/calls-for-greater-access-to-homebirths/11653760?fbclid=IwAR1-vWhcS1JnRIOto6vtsXo-lZt77qVrtmN1RB3anZOWv4pAkevw20uNT2g

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This Week In Wellness high levels of trans fats in your blood may make you 50 to 75% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia according to a new study in the journal Neurology.

The study was run over 10 years and utilising over 1600 men and women and importantly measuring the actual trans fat levels in their blood over that time (rather than relying on dietary questionnaires) adding weight to the findings.

After adjusting for other influencing factors like high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, the study found that people with the highest levels of trans fats were up to 74% more likely to develop dementia compared to those with the lowest levels.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/23/health/alzheimers-trans-fats-dementia-risk-75-higher-wellness/index.html

https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2019/10/23/WNL.0000000000008464

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This Week In Wellness the Australian Chiropractic College (ACC) has announced it will open its doors in Adelaide’s CBD in January 2020 with a promise to deliver ‘job ready’ chiropractors.

The ACC say that they will integrate science, philosophy, hands on experience and business studies to deliver a smoother transition from classroom to clinic.

The ACC says one of the defining differences between the course offered by the College and other providers, is that the Adelaide-based course is the only chiropractic degree program in Australia with business and management courses integrated throughout the entirety of the curriculum

https://acc.sa.edu.au

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This Week In Wellness group of papers about red meat, processed meat and human health have been released by the Annals of Internal Medicine suggesting that they are OK to eat and that they couldn’t find any links to heart disease and cancer.

Unsurprisingly given the vilification of red meat and processed meats in recent times this has created quite an uproar amongst the general population and researchers alike.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190930/controversial-studies-say-its-ok-to-eat-red-meat

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2752328/unprocessed-red-meat-processed-meat-consumption-dietary-guideline-recommendations-from

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This Week In Wellness the ACT Government has voted to legalise cannabis for personal use with residents over the age of 18 allowed to possess 50 grams of cannabis and grow 2 plants. Whilst the possession and growth of cannabis would remain a federal offence and the risk of prosecution is “not entirely removed” in practice the laws will not apply.

ACT attorney-general, Gordon Ramsay, says it is time to treat drug addiction as a health issue, and that there needs to be an increase in drug and alcohol services.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/cannabis-set-to-be-legalised-in-australian-capital-territory-for-personal-use

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This Week In Wellness, CSIRO (an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research) is recommending a low carbohydrate approach to help curb the obesity epidemic and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease in a dramatic shift from the high carbohydrate, low-fat approach recommended previously.

With two in three Australians either overweight or obese, it is a timely shift and one that has come none too soon.

Professor Grant Brinkworth from CSIRO says that “For many years, we’ve had the high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach – and research shows it’s only offering people moderate benefits,”

https://7news.com.au/the-morning-show/csiro-recommends-a-low-carb-diet-for-long-term-weight-loss-goals-c-473130

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This Week In Wellness research suggests that a diet low in protein and high in carbohydrates may be the key to living a long life, despite the fact that they led to weight gain and that previous idea on the benefits of caloric restriction may not, in fact, hold up.

Nutritional scientist Dr Samantha Solon-Biet suggests that the 2 million-plus Australians who go on a diet every year may be better off focusing less on low-carb, high-protein diets, unless their only goal is weight loss.

https://sydney.edu.au/research/research-impact/the-secret-to-healthy-ageing-is-a-low-protein-high-carb-diet.html

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(14)00065-5

NB. In this episode, I misspoke when I suggested that historically many humans gained the majority of their energy from animal proteins. I should have said animal sources (this would have included fats and proteins even carbohydrates from dairy).

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The British Dental Journal says that half of elite athletes have rotting teeth.

352 Olympic and professional athletes were examined and showed higher than usual rates of dental problems despite the fact that they brushed and flossed more than your average person.

Researchers hypothesise that is is the high intake of sugary sports drinks, gels and bars that may be the culprit whilst the intense exercise may also cause changes to saliva and the immune system that may be related.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/08/23/extreme-fitness-rots-teeth-new-study-finds/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-019-0617-8

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A study in the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) has shown that your risk of developing coeliac disease may be increased if you consume gluten as a child.

“Our study shows a clear association between the amount of gluten the children consumed and the risk of developing coeliac disease or pre-coeliac disease.”, says Daniel Agardh, associate professor at Lund University, and leader of the study.

Whilst the study is observational and therefore does not prove causation, the linkages were strong and matched the findings from a smaller pilot study. They showed that at the age of 2, over 2 grams of gluten a day  (the equivalent of a slice of white bread), was associated with a whopping 75% increase in the risk of coeliac disease compared to a child who has less than 2g.

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/association-between-coeliac-disease-risk-and-gluten-intake-confirmed

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2747670?guestAccessKey=eb2a6561-4de9-4408-a170-bce0393e02a5&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=081319

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This Week In Wellness Oncologists are unlikely to offer lifestyle tips that improve the health and reduce the risk of recurrence in cancer patients according to a survey conducted by the journal Cancer.

The survey of primary care physicians, specialists and oncologists from the Midwestern Health System in America showed that less than 10% of specialists and only ¼ of oncologists would recommend lifestyle changes and that when oncologists did address lifestyle factors, it was usually because the patient brought the subject up.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-survivors/cancer-doctors-dont-focus-on-lifestyle-risks-idUSKCN1VG2AT

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.32410

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