Health
In a study published in November in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at the association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality among 76,464 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 42,498 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
Consumption of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), was inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women, independent of other predictors for death.
In addition, there were significant inverse associations for deaths due to cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.
“Compared with those who did not eat nuts, individuals who consumed nuts (serving size of one ounce) seven or more times per week had a 20 percent lower death rate and this association was dose-dependent,” said lead author, Ying Bao, MD, ScD, from the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. “Those who consumed more nuts were also leaner, and tended to have a healthy lifestyle, such as smoking less and exercising more,” added Dr. Bao.
This is the largest study to date to examine the relation between nut consumption and total mortality, and the results are consistent with previous studies, according to senior author, Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, from the Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
“The findings from our study and others suggest a potential benefit of nut consumption for promoting health and longevity,” said Dr. Fuchs.
Nuts contain important nutrients such as unsaturated fats, high quality protein, vitamins (I.e., vitamin E, folate and niacin) minerals (I.e., magnesium, calcium and potassium) and phytochemicals – all of which may offer cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
“With current nut consumption well below the recommended 1.5 ounces of nuts per day (in the FDA qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease) we need to continue to encourage people to have a handful of nuts every day,” recommended Maureen Ternus, M.S., R.D., Executive Director of the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation (INC NREF).
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SACRAMENTO – Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and state health officer, announced the release of new reports summarizing healthcare associated infection (HAI) data, collected from California's hospitals in 2012 on several types of infections.
An updated, interactive map highlighting individual hospital information has also been released.
“These reports expand our knowledge of these dangerous infections and will ultimately result in better and safer care through increased awareness,” said Dr. Chapman. “CDPH will continue working with hospitals throughout California to improve healthcare associated infection surveillance, prevention and lower infection rates. Making this information public and easy to use will give consumers helpful information they can consider when making educated choices about their healthcare.”
The reports provide data from California's hospitals for the following types of infections:
- Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI);
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) bloodstream infections;
- Clostridium difficile infections (CDI); and
- Surgical site infections (SSI).
This year’s reports show that California hospitals are nearing 100 percent participation with reporting compliance. Specific findings include:
- The overall number of central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in California was 5 percent lower in 2012 (2998) than in 2011 (3163). Of the 24 patient-location types (intensive care units and wards) reported, CLABSI rates were lower in 15 (63%) patient locations in 2012 compared to 2011. This year’s report incorporates hospital-specific adherence to central line insertion practices (CLIP), clinical practices known to prevent CLABSI, for each intensive care unit.
- In 2012, 386 (99.5%) California hospitals reported 12 months of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) data, compared to 93.8 percent of hospitals in 2011. Fifty-four hospitals reported no hospital-onset cases of CDI during 2012.
- The 2012 statewide methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infection (BSI) was down. The overall rate of hospital-onset MRSA BSI decreased 6 percent from 2011 (869) to 2012 (817). California hospitals also reported significantly fewer MRSA bloodstream infections than predicted by national comparison data.
- Of the 386 hospitals that reported vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) bloodstream infections (BSI) in 2012, 207 (54%) reported no hospital-onset VRE BSI, a slight increase compared to 176 (48.0%) hospitals that reported no hospital-onset VRE BSIs in 2011.
- This report represents the first full year that California hospitals reported surgical site infections (SSI) for 29 types of surgical procedures.
California leads the nation in the number of HAI publicly reported and continues making this information more accessible to the public. Along with these new reports, CDPH has updated and expanded its interactive map of healthcare associated infections (HAI) for consumers. CDPH notes that any interpretation or comparisons of the HAI data should be made with caution. As more data becomes available over time, it will be easier to draw comparisons.
All California hospitals are required to report infection data electronically through the federal National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
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