Heart drugs may cause harm - researcher

June 22, 2007

DRUGS given to patients after surgery to prevent heart attacks and strokes could actually cause complications, an Australian researcher says.

The drugs known as beta blockers and statins are administered to about 100 million adults around the world each year before, during and after surgery on any part of the body except the heart.

The drugs prevent heart complications and help lower blood pressure.

But Stephen Bolson, an anaesthetist and associate professor of patient safety at the University of Melbourne, said about 1 per cent of such patients were at risk of cardiac complications such as heart attacks and strokes, and about one in four would die each year.

Writing in the latest edition of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Prof Bolson said the benefits of using the drugs after surgery were unclear at best, and at worst could cause complications.

Prof Bolson said he wrote an editorial for BMJ two years ago on the subject and his current research called into question the effectiveness of the drugs.

"In the late 1990s, there was some rather misleading and probably disingenuous research that was undertaken in America which suggested that beta blockers were useful for patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery to prevent cardiac complications," Prof Bolson said.

"But it wasn't really well-designed research and more recent evidence has continued to call that into question."

Prof Bolson said two studies from Denmark and the UK since then had reported no drop in the rates of death or several other serious complications, such as heart attack, heart failure, and stroke 30 days after surgery in patients receiving beta blockers.

Another study found no benefit six months after surgery, and a trial at the moment had so far not reported any beneficial effects, he said.

"If you are going to use these drugs routinely, you will end up treating more patients than you would otherwise for these complications of low blood pressure and low heart rate," he said.

"We know that low blood pressure can cause complications in the peri-operative (post-operative) period."

But one of the early US studies showed there could be also be complications in patients who had been on beta blockers and then suddenly stopped taking them, he said.

"These drugs are not cheap and treating their complications also incurs added expense and we think there is a lot of expensive treatment going on with no good evidence for it.

"If you are already on those drugs, then you should continue during your surgical course.
"But if you are not on them, there is no evidence that starting them will help you at all."

Article from: AAP

To consumers, the basic building blocks of nutrients are well known: essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. What Mannatech has discovered is a brand new category of important nutrients: glyconutrients. Following their initial breakthrough discovery, Mannatech filed patents across the globe. Ambrotose® complex has now been issued patents in 29 countries, including the United States. Securing its position of leadership, Mannatech dedicates approximately 30 employees to its science department, and continues to develop new technologies, review research, and conduct studies.

Votes in for healthiest lunchboxes

May 22, 2007

Healthy bread wraps are winners in kids' lunch boxes, while chocolate spread sandwiches and chips are losers, according to a recent poll by The Parents Jury.

The Parents Jury is a web-based forum, supported by The Cancer Council and Diabetes Australia, for parents to voice their views and improve children's food and physical activity environments.

In their recent Lunchbox Winners and Losers poll, hundreds of parents offered ideas for healthy school lunches.

Salad wraps using pita, oat or corn bread, fruit salad, wholemeal sandwiches, frozen fruit and nuts ranked highly while chocolate spread sandwiches, fruit bars, soft drinks, muesli bars and chips were poorly rated.

Coordinator of The Parents Jury, Justine Hodge, said the organisation started in 2004 with 12 parents and has grown to a membership of 2,700.

It focuses on food marketing issues, like junk food advertisements targeted at children, as well as supporting parents in making the right food choices for their child.

"Childhood obesity is a phenomenal problem and one that is not going away," Ms Hodge said.

She said parents need to present their children with healthy food choices at home as well as at school.

"Kids spend a lot of time at school and (they need) good food for energy and brain function."

Foods like bread wraps and fruit are excellent school lunch choices because they can be varied, while soft drinks and chips rate poorly because they are high in fat, sugar and nutrient poor, she said.

Ms Hodge said the key to ensuring children make the right food choices is to keep healthy food in the house, present it in an interesting way and set a good example.

"Don't make food a battleground," she said.

AAP

About Mannatech, Incorporated
Mannatech, based in Coppell, Texas, is a wellness solutions provider that sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care products, through a global network-marketing system throughout the United States and the international markets of Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Denmark. For additional information about Mannatech, please visit its corporate Web site: www.mannatech.com

Fit Kit

The Mannatech Optimal Skin Care System was designed to help nourish, hydrate and restore youthful radiance to your skin at the cellular level. Formulates in Japan, the system’s essential ingredient is ultra-pure water from the legendary water of Asia’s Hunza Valley. Each of the seven luxious products are preservative-free for both men and women of all skin types, The Optimal Skin System delivers maximum moisture and nutrients to facial skin cells. After only one use, you will enjoy noticeable improvement in skin hydration.

Mannatech Inc. develops nutritional supplements, topical products, and weight-management products. Its products are designed to support cell-to-cell communication, the immune system, the endocrine system, skin, and health, as well as nutritional support during weight loss. Mannatech provides various nutritional supplements for overall health and wellness; wellness management products to support and maintain specific areas of the body; lifestyle solutions to further support specific physiological functions that need additional nutritional support; sports performance nutrition products that provide nutrition to support physical performance and maintain muscle mass; a body system that focuses on various aspects of nutrition and weight management; skin care solutions, which are designed to strengthen the skin's own natural texture, softness, and elasticity, as well as to deliver vital antioxidants to the skin; and children's growth essentials for their overall health and wellness.

Why use supplments?

Convenience Foods

A diet overly dependent on highly refined carbohydrates, such as sugar, white flour and white rice, places greater demand on additional sources of B-group vitamins to process these carbohydrates. An unbalanced diet contributes to such conditions as irritability, lethargy and sleep disorders.

Antibiotics

Some antibiotics although valuable in fighting infection, also kill off friendly bacteria in the gut, which would normally be producing B-group vitamins to be absorbed through the intestinal walls. Such deficiencies can result in a variety of nervous conditions, therefore it may be advisable to supplement with B-group vitamins when on a lengthy course of broad spectrum antibiotics.

Food Allergies

The omission of whole food groups from the diet, as is the case of individual allergies to gluten or lactose, can mean the loss of significant dietary sources of nutrients such as thiamine, riboflavine or calcium.

Crop Nutrient Losses

Some agricultural soils are deficient in trace elements. Decades of Intensive agriculture and overwork may deplete soils, unless all the soil nutrients, including trace elements, are regularly replaced.

For consumers looking to live healthier and nutritionally enriched lives, Mannatech Inc. offer hope. Based in Coppell, Texas, Mannatech sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care. Steve Lemme, senior vice president of sales and marketing, says Mannatech has been entrusted with a divine technology.

On the cold and flu defensive

Keeping your body immune to colds and flu is a challenge during the change of seasons. After a hot summer as we move into autumn and winter, the change of season can be a time when colds and flu can strike at any time. We need to maintain a strong immune system.

Everyday we are exposed to many viruses and bacteria. When our immunity is low, we may become susceptible to catching colds and flu – therefore maintaining a strong immune system is vital.

Whether we are working long hours to keep to a deadline or simply dealing with the change in weather, it is important to keep our body healthy and strong. Supporting your immune system is the key to good long-term health.

Several protective immune mechanisms provide a vital defence system for the body.
One of these involves lactoferrin, which is found within the lining of the lungs and other mucus surfaces.

Lactoferrin is produced naturally in the body by immune cells when the body is under threat of infection.

Little has been developed with this ingredient until recently. Lactoferrin is present in substantial quantities in mother's milk and plays an important role in the defence system of infants. It is also present in various body fluids and continues to play an important role in the immune system of adults.

Medical research acknowledges that eight glyconutrient sugars are needed at the cellular level for optimum immune system function. Considering that six of these glyconutrients are often lacking in modern diets, Mannatech sought new and better sources of the nutrients. The effort culminated in the Ambrotose complex. Twenty patents – including one from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – have been issued to Mannatech for technology related to the Ambrotose complex.

Reality Check

The reality is many people have good reason to consider adjusting their diets. Almost half of all Australian women and two thirds of Aussie men are either overweight of obese.

Given the amount of energy we burn, the average Australian eats too much. There are two ways to combat this – burn more energy by being more active, and/or don’t eat so much. Secondly, we tend to eat too much fat (particularly saturated or animal fat) and too little unrefined carbohydrate (cereals, grains, vegetables, fruit).

The major illnesses in which heart disease, stroke, some forms of cancer, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and obesity itself.

So what should we eat? Here’s part of the problem: if you want to put someone to sleep or turn them off even attempting to change their eating behaviors, tell them the dietary guidelines as laid down by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

These guidelines specify:

· 7 serves of fruit and vegetables per day

· A max of 30 per cent energy intake from fat

· A max of 10 per cent energy intake from saturated fat

· A max of 100mmol per day of salt.

In a nutshell, aim to eat more fruit and vegetables, less animal fats and less salt.

Many fad diets will succeed in the short term because they restrict calories so much. But such diets cannot be sustained. If you want to exercise, you won’t have enough energy. The result can be an unhealthy yo-yo effect on your weight.

They do not provide a sustainable change in your eating habits that will lead to long-term good health. The long term answer comes down to discipline and common sense.

Mannatech Inc. develops nutritional supplements, topical products, and weight-management products. Its products are designed to support cell-to-cell communication, the immune system, the endocrine system, skin, and health, as well as nutritional support during weight loss. Mannatech provides various nutritional supplements for overall health and wellness; wellness management products to support and maintain specific areas of the body; lifestyle solutions to further support specific physiological functions that need additional nutritional support; sports performance nutrition products that provide nutrition to support physical performance and maintain muscle mass; a body system that focuses on various aspects of nutrition and weight management; skin care solutions, which are designed to strengthen the skin's own natural texture, softness, and elasticity, as well as to deliver vital antioxidants to the skin; and children's growth essentials for their overall health and wellness.

Fantastic fish

It is well established that fish or fish oil supplements are a rich source of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) and are therefore beneficial for people at high risk for heart disease. The incidence of sudden cardiac death is much lower in those countries where ocean fish forms a major component of diet. Therefore supplementing the diet with n-3 PUFAs as marine (fish oil) or plant-derived (soy oil) sources could be a good approach for preventing heart disease.

A study led by Dr Fernando Holguin from Atlanta's Emory School of Medicine, with colleagues from Mexico and Canada, has investigated another beneficial effect of taking fish oil supplements – they provide greater variability between heart beats, reducing the risk of arrhythmia and/or sudden death.

The research, published in the American Journal for Respiratory Care and Critical Care Medicine, examined whether taking omega-3 fatty acids could improve heart rate variability in elderly people exposed to air pollution.

Exposure to airborne particulates has been associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in the elderly and reductions in heart rate variability (HRV).

HRV is defined as the variation of beat-to-beat intervals of the heart. A healthy heart at rest has a large HRV, while decreased or no variation may indicate cardiac disease. HRV is an independent risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack or sudden death.

The researchers provided fish oil supplements to 26 residents of a nursing home in Mexico City, a place known for its significant air pollution. A control group of 24 residents was given soy oil supplements. The participants' average age ranged from 81 to 83 years old.

All participants spent 92 percent of their time indoors and were exposed to tiny indoor air pollutant particles. None of the patients suffered from cardiac arrhythmias, had a pacemaker or were being treated with oral anticoagulants. Prior to the beginning of the study, all participants had a low intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

For consumers looking to live healthier and nutritionally enriched lives, Mannatech Inc. offer hope. Based in Coppell, Texas, Mannatech sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care. Steve Lemme, senior vice president of sales and marketing, says Mannatech has been entrusted with a divine technology.

Cellulite

Cellulite is a condition in which fatty deposits and fluids develop near the skin in the buttocks, hips, thighs, knees or ankles creating an unsightly appearance in those areas. With no treatment the fat cells will increase in size causing the membranes to lose their shape and cause changes in the appearance and texture of the skin. Additional affects are the circulation impairment and buildup of fluid within the connective tissue of the skin.

Treatment should begin with a healthy lifestyle of weight control, proper nutrition and exercise. Healthy nutrition means to eat no refined glucose or carbohydrates, eat fruits, vegetables, cold water fish, lean protein, sprouted grain bread, and fiber. The exercise program should consist of thirty minute periods three to six times per week.

Mannatech Inc. develops nutritional supplements, topical products, and weight-management products. Its products are designed to support cell-to-cell communication, the immune system, the endocrine system, skin, and health, as well as nutritional support during weight loss. Mannatech provides various nutritional supplements for overall health and wellness; wellness management products to support and maintain specific areas of the body; lifestyle solutions to further support specific physiological functions that need additional nutritional support; sports performance nutrition products that provide nutrition to support physical performance and maintain muscle mass; a body system that focuses on various aspects of nutrition and weight management; skin care solutions, which are designed to strengthen the skin's own natural texture, softness, and elasticity, as well as to deliver vital antioxidants to the skin; and children's growth essentials for their overall health and wellness.

Interview with Dr Steve Nugent

The body requires digestive enzymes to assimilate nutrients form food, and if it does not have enough of these supplied in the food itself, it has to convert other enzymes to do this, which depletes overall enzyme stores. Is this part of the whole process?

There are a number of different and complicated enzyme processes – or back-up systems. The body has an amazing number of back-up systems and, in my opinion, it is only those systems that keep us going in today’s environment. We rely on those conversion processes and sometimes they do not function properly either. If I were to recommend taking any dietary supplement, first and foremost, the cells that you wish to affect must be glycosylated or it doesn’t matter what supplement you take. This goes for antioxidants or herbal medicines. If a cell won’t perform its basic function then it will not adequately utilize those ingested supplements.

Would you like to add anything else?

Tons of stuff! The second edition of my book contains information that I would like people to see – to see that there are small things that everyone can do, like how much water is wasted when you shave. The experts are telling us that, unless we stop wasting water, in 20 years time we will have no water to drink because current technology is not adequate to clean our water to the way it was just ten years ago. If you look at the data on the chemicals in our current water supply you would not want to drink it.

The current New South Wales government is proposing a desalination plant for Sydney as opposed to recycling water. What is your opinion on this as a method of supplying water?

Because of the amount of solid and chemical waste in water, it cannot be processed with today’s technology beyond a certain point. It is forward thinking of your government to consider this. The caution is that desalinating water is not enough. That water will have to be purified in an extraordinary sense because of the toxic chemicals it contains. It is like eating massive amounts of the toxic fish I mentioned earlier, because of the amount of fluid we need to drink each day. Desalination is a good idea, but only if you have appropriate purification behind it.

What about recycling run-off water?

This depends on the volume in relation to the population’s requirements. May nations are now removing solid waste from their recycled water and using it as farm fertilizer. The trouble with this is that the fertilizer contains parasites, some of which have eggs that can stray alive for many weeks after the waste has been spread on the land. Then the farm animals consume them and humans consume the meat infested with the parasites.

Medical research acknowledges that eight glyconutrient sugars are needed at the cellular level for optimum immune system function. Considering that six of these glyconutrients are often lacking in modern diets, Mannatech sought new and better sources of the nutrients. The effort culminated in the Ambrotose complex. Twenty patents – including one from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – have been issued to Mannatech for technology related to the Ambrotose complex.

Interview with Dr Steve Nugent

Can you tell us about your new book?

My new book is about missing nutrients. The first half talks about food – about what is not in our diets. It talks about the problems with corporate farming methods. It discusses organic versus inorganic produce, and why we need dietary supplements at all. The second half of the book deals with one of the most important of the missing nutrients – glyconutrients – which are fundamental for the correct structure and function of literally all cells in all biological systems.

What are glyconutrients?

On the surface of every cell there are receptor sites and each of these is like an antenna. Each one is programmed to receive a particular glyconutrient combined with a particular amino acid. When these two form together they become what is known as a ‘glycoprotein’. The receptor is then referred to as ‘glycosylated’. When it is glycosylated, it can function with a corresponding receptor. This enables cellular communication which is essential. Good communication between cells will regular proper immune function, such as whether or not your body produces more natural killer cells in the case of an infection or cancer. Information about the seriousness of the problem is transmitted between cells. In the case of glandular function, hormones cannot function unless a message is sent between glands which acts as a feedback loop to the brain which will, in turn, regulate how much of this or that is needed at any particular moment. This becomes vitally important for basic daily function. In fact, if a cell is not glycosylated, you cannot expect it to function correctly and you cannot expect a wellness response.

Does this affect the elimination of cell waste as well?

Absolutely. Glyconutrients are very important in supporting good colon health, digestion and elimination. You cannot produce enzymes, without the appropriate glyconutrients, which is vitally important for digestion. In fact there are more than 7,000 enzymes performing different functions. Most people tend to think that there are only the digestive enzymes.

About Mannatech, Incorporated
Mannatech, based in Coppell, Texas, is a wellness solutions provider that sells its products through a global network-marketing system throughout the United States and the international markets of Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Denmark. For additional information about Mannatech, please visit its corporate Web site: www.mannatech.com

Interview with Dr Steve Nugent

Can you tell us about modern toxins and how they affect newborn children? Do you have any advice for expectant mothers and for people planning pregnancies who want to give their children the best start in life?

Yes. Prenatal nutrition in extremely important – more now than ever before in history because of the chemicals in our environment. There have been studies done on various aspects of diet and chemical exposure that indicate problems with the offspring, ranging from developmental disorders to low appetite to death. Some of these chemicals are being seen in seafood now, and if you were to do a survey, you would find that the majority of women who are given the choice between red meat or fish while pregnant will choose fish. This turns out not to be as healthy as they thought. Fish have no option. They have to swim through whatever chemicals are in the water and inevitably these are passed through their tissues. As a result, they tend to be saturated with these chemical more than land-based animals. At one time I may have recommended fish as an excellent food, but no longer. A study done at the Great Lakes region linked a high intake of Great Lakes fish with developmental disorders in the offspring of the mothers who all thought that they were doing the right thing for their children.

Have they found that infants born in the Unites States already have dangerous levels of synthetic chemicals in them?

Unfortunately, this is the case. I think that the strongest supposition is that there is a link between the number and amount of chemicals in the environment and the tremendous number of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. No child has a Ritalin deficiency. There has to be a reason that we are having such a sudden increase in the phenomenon in the US and in the rest of the world. If you look at the chemicals which are suspected – but not confirmed – to cause this, the US also leads in exposure to these chemicals. It is not evidence, but is certainly food for thought.

We had a question about omega-3 fatty acids in wild fish as opposed to farmed fish. It was found that the farmed fish contained higher amounts. Is there anything in farmed fish which ought not to be there, and what is your view on farmed fish as opposed to wild fish?

As part of my research, I looked at the relative safety of ocean salmon as opposed to farm-raised salmon, and it appears that farmed salmon almost everywhere, including Australia, is more toxic than the ocean salmon. Logically you may think that it should be the opposite – that obviously the ocean is a more toxic environment to the farm-raised salmon would be cleaner. What everyone missed was what the salmon consumed. The farm-raised salmon are fed a protein concentrate which is made of ocean fish, so they re eating more toxins than the ocean fish are eating. This is an important issue because omega-3 fats are very important for your health. Regarding fish oils, there is a process which was developed at Harvard University to remove the toxins, such as PCBs and dioxin, while leaving the omega-3 fats active and intact.

So fish oil is not necessarily just fish oil, as you may be getting a concentrates dose of PCB’s and dioxin in the process?

Yes, in fact you could be getting as much as 12 times the level of PCBs in the fish oil. The companies which use the Harvard extraction process have a safe product, but it comes at a premium dollar price. The thing is to determine which products use the process. However, a higher dollar price does not mean that the product is cleaner. You need to look for the data, and the companies which use it will be happy to show it to you.

Glycoscience is the broad term for the study of structure and function of sugars (glyco is the greek work for sugar) in the body. These healthy sugars are the foundation of glyconutrients, ingredients found in Mannatech’s proprietary products created to help our individual cells communicate.

You may not be receiving these beneficial sugars in the right amounts from the food you eat. That’s where Mannatech offers hope. Mannatech leads the industry in glyconutrient technology around the world and strives to offer better solutions for global health.

Destined to rise above

The right product at the right time let to Mannatech’s spectacular take-off

In 1994, after years of controversy among lawmakers, nutrition experts, manufacturers and consumers, the U.S. Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act, a wide-ranging piece of legislation that for the first time gave “dietary supplement” a legal definition.

For manufacturers in general, this meant official validation of the public’s surging interest in supplements. For Mannatech, a company that had just been launched in suburban Dallas, Texas, the act meant a green light just as its revolutionary discover of glyconutrients cam to fruition.

“In the U.S., prior to 1994, if you wanted to make a health claim for a product, you had to develop it as a drug,” says Stephen Boyd, M.D., Ph.D., Mannatech’s senior medical director. “The new law instead allowed companies t use their science as educational material in support of a nutritional supplement.”

In Mannatech’s case, the science in question was Glycobiology, at the time an obscure field devoted to the study of carbohydrates. At several companies, researchers who later joined Mannatech had been studying the function of these sugar molecules inside the body, with a growing focus on the aloe vera plant. Mannose sugar – or acemannan – had been pinpointed as a primary factor in aloe’s beneficial properties.

“Our researchers hypothesized that certain sugars represented a new category of nutrients, just like vitamins, mineral and amino acids,” says Sam Caster, chairman, founder and CEO of Mannatech. “We were the first to recognize that those sugars are essential for the proper function of every human cell, and yet for the most part, they are deficient in modern diets.”

In 1994, Mr.Caster secured a license to distribute Manapol, a compound derived from aloe vera. The patented process for creating Manapol was instrumental in launching Mannatech’s early business. Other advances quickly followed, culminating in the introduction of Ambrotose complex, a unique, patented glyconutrient formula the remains Mannatech’s most popular product.

Since then, Mannatech’s success has been nothing less than astounding, with sales doubling every few years. “Ninety percent of our growth was due to the effectiveness of the product,” Mr. Caster says. “We knew very early on that we were going to be successful, because we saw the initial response from customers. If our products had no effect, we wouldn’t have the sales.”

Mannatech’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. Last year, one of America’s premier news magazines, Business Week, ranked Mannatech sixth among the nation’s top 100 Hot Growth companies in the U.S. The magazine rigorously culled a database of 2,200 publicly traded companies to choose the top 100.

“What these companies prove is that talent, teamwork and creativity often win out, even against tough foes like a struggling economy and fierce competition,” the magazine said. “Most of this year’s performers have hit on innovative ideas or tapped into economic trends that continue to fuel their growth.”

In January 2005, the reputable BRW Australasian magazine listed Mannatech as the number-one direct-selling power in nutritional dietary supplements.

Mannatech’s success demonstrates the viability of its products, its business model and its unique positioning within the nutritional supplements industry. And despite its aggressive international expansion, the company remains debt free.

Today Mannatech is a worldwide hit, with nearly 30 products aimed at health, nutrition, weight management, sports performance and skin care sold in numerous countries. Any of the company’s 510,000 active Independent Associates and Members worldwide can share the benefits of Mannatech’s products with others, and many of them find even greater satisfaction in the company’s extensive charitable efforts to help orphans and struggling communities.

Though much has been accomplished, the best may be yet to come as glycobiology and the role carbohydrates play in cell-to-cell communication move from the footnotes of science textbooks to the front pages of prestigious journals. More than 20,000 peer-reviewed articles have now been published on the biological functions of glyconutrients, a great vindication in light of the skepticism that once greeted the topic.

“Glycobiology has caught the eye of mainstream medicine and the pharmaceutical industry has become a very hot area of research,” says Robert Sinnott, M.N.S., Ph.D., Mannatech’s chief science officer. “We were one of the first players in glyconutrients, and the first to do it right as a supplement.”

Heart risk factors prevalent in psoriasis patients

November 24, 2006

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Psoriasis sufferers have an increased frequency of a variety of cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol levels, and smoking, results of a study confirm.
In particular, the current results suggest that psoriasis is associated with key components of the metabolic syndrome -- a clustering of heart risk factors -- and that this association is stronger in cases of severe psoriasis.
This finding is important, say the investigators, given that individuals with as few as one or two metabolic syndrome risk factors are at heightened risk for death due to cardiovascular disease.
"Our other studies suggest that, independent of other risk factors, severe psoriasis itself may be a risk factor for heart attack," Dr. Joel M. Gelfand from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia told Reuters Health. "Therefore, patients with psoriasis should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors, and if these risk factors are present, they should be managed appropriately."
Gelfand and colleagues identified 127,706 patients with mild psoriasis and 3,854 with severe psoriasis. Each psoriasis patient was matched to up to five psoriasis-free control subjects.
Diabetes was present in 7.1 percent of patients with severe psoriasis and in 4.4 percent of those with mild psoriasis compared with just 3.3 percent of controls.
High blood pressure was present in 20 percent of patients with severe psoriasis, 14.7 percent of those with mild psoriasis and 11.9 percent of controls. Elevated cholesterol or "hyperlipidemia" was documented in 6 percent, 4.7 percent, and 3.3 percent, respectively.
Nearly 20.7 percent of individuals with severe psoriasis and 15.8 percent of those with mild psoriasis were obese compared with roughly 13.2 percent of controls. Thirty-one percent of those with severe psoriasis were smokers compared with 28 percent of those with mild psoriasis and 20.7 percent of psoriasis-free controls.
Compared with controls, patients with mild psoriasis had higher adjusted odds of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and smoking. Patients with severe psoriasis had higher adjusted odds of diabetes, obesity, and smoking.
Additionally, diabetes and obesity were more prevalent in patients with severe psoriasis than in those with mild psoriasis.
Patients with psoriasis should be encouraged to identify and manage their modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, December 2006.

For consumers looking to live healthier and nutritionally enriched lives, Mannatech Inc. offer hope. Based in Coppell, Texas, Mannatech sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care.