Funding was received from the Foundation of the National Lipid Association to develop a computer-based interactive learning tool designed to aid patients in achieving target blood cholesterol levels through diet and physical activity. We are seeking practicing health professionals in lipid management who are willing to test the learning tool with their patients. The program will be provided on a CD that is compatible with both Windows and MAC operating systems. You will be asked to use the program and provide comprehensive feedback via a questionnaire within 8 weeks. There is no lower or upper limit on the number of patients who can test the learning tool in your practice. Once your assessment has been received, you will be permitted to keep the program free of charge and you will be compensated $150 for your help. We plan to summarize the results of the questionnaires that you complete and revise the tool as appropriate. Our goal is to make this tool available to NLA members. If you are interested in learning more about the project, please email Jennifer at jas58@psu.edu or call (1-866-778-3438), mention the Lipid Study, and leave your name and a contact number. This study is being conducted in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State University and has received IRB approval.
The American Heart Association (AHA) is sponsoring an Added Sugars Conference together with the IOM on May 4-6 in Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the AHA Added Sugars Conference is to facilitate the discussion surrounding the translation of the AHA added sugars recommendation into programs, and find ways for implementing the recommendation to improve the overall American diet.
This program will provide important information for NLA members in counseling patients about how to reduce added sugars in the diet.
Further information about the program can be found at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3070892
Informative information about sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) can be found in a recent Contemporary Review in Cardiovascular Medicine published in Circulation (Malik et al., 121:1356-1364, 2010). This article reports increased SSB consumption over time. In addition, it reports data that show that SSB is significant contributor to weight gain, which is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
On January 20, 2010 the American Heart Association released their national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction (Circulation, 2010;121:586-613). The impact goals are as follows: by 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20%.
The five dietary goals are:
1. fruits and vegetables: ≥ 4.5 cups per day
2. fish: ≥ two 3.5-oz servings per week (preferably oily fish)
3. fiber-rich whole grains (≥ 1.1 g of fiber per 10 g of carbohydrate): ≥ three 1-oz equivalent servings per day
4. sodium: < 1500 mg per day
5. sugar-sweetened beverages: ≤ 450 kcal (36 oz) per week
Secondary dietary metrics (consistent with a DASH-like eating plan ) are recommended and include:
1. nuts, legumes, and seeds: ≥ 4 servings per week
2. processed meats: none or ≤ 2 servings per week
3. saturated fat: <7% of total energy intake
Strategies for implementing the 2020 Goals including the nutrition goals are posted at AHA Life's Simple 7 website. These are: get active; eat better; lose weight; stop smoking; control cholesterol; manage blood pressure; and reduce blood sugar. There are many wonderful nutrition resources on this website.
The SmallStep website which is sponsored by HHS is a great patient resource. There is a SmallStep website for kids . There is a lot of information about eating better and portion control. The Eat Better link provides resources, recipes and valuable information about food choices to help patients follow a heart healthy diet. The Portion Control link provides useful information about serving sizes. In addition, there is an activity tracker where patients can set physical activity goals, and track and view a graph of physical activity progress. At this website there is a map of the United States that provides information about "local steps" programs that has links to various health and wellness programs at the local level. Patients and health professionals will find the health tip of the day very interesting and useful. In addition, there is a Spanish language version of the website.
Recent studies have reported an inverse association between tea consumption and risk of stroke. In a study conducted by Arab et al. (Stroke 2009), data from nine studies among 194,965 subjects who had 4378 strokes (both fatal and non-fatal), showed that consumption of > or = to 3 cups of tea (green or black) per day was associated with a 21% lower risk of stroke than consuming < 1 cup per day. Another study (case-control) conducted in China reported a significant decrease in ischemic stroke risk with one cup of tea weekly versus infrequent or non-tea consumption (Liang et al., Stroke 2009). The authors report a significant dose-response relationship with tea consumption. A study conducted in Japan with 6,358 subjects who had 110 stroke events reported a considerably lower risk for total stroke in the highest versus lowest category of green tea consumption (multivariate HR, 0.41;95% CI, 0.24-0.70; P = 0.001) (Tanabe et al., Int J. Epidemiol. 2008). However, the Nurses' Health Study, a prospective cohort study of 83,076 women did not find a relationship between tea consumption and stroke (Lopez-Garcia et al., Circulation 2009). Interestingly, this latter study reported that coffee consumption showed an inverse dose-response relationship with stroke. Based on the available evidence, tea consumption shows promise for reducing risk of stroke. Possible mechanisms include antioxidant functions, anti-inflammatory actions, decreased blood pressure and nitric oxide formation (due to catechin consumption). Since unsweetened tea is calorie free, it is a beverage that can be recommended in amounts that appear to confer protection against stroke.
