Tension-type headache and low back pain reconsidered

The natural history and clinical course of tension-type headache and non-specific low back pain are reconsidered. By closer examination, these two conditions appear to share several specific clinical features. Both are muscular pain conditions along the spine, they have a preponderance in women, they may occur spontaneously or follow a trivial traumatic incident, and they both have a high risk of chronicity. The affected muscles are tender with tender points. EMG indicates diffuse hyperactivity and abnormal activation pattern, and motor control of the affected muscles and adjacent muscle groups is discoordinated. These shared features suggest analogous pathophysiology involving the neuromotor control of affected and adjacent muscle groups in the cervical and lumbar regions, respectively. As recently suggested for the whiplash disease, we suggest the term spinal dyssynergia for this specific pattern of pathology. This suggestion provides a new perspective for the understanding of these diseases by placing their cause within the central nervous system and not in the spine or spinal musculature. This perspective warrants further clinical, neurophysiological, and neuropharmacological studies of this ‘family’ of common yet poorly understood clinical muscular pain conditions along the spine

Økologiske fødevarer og menneskets sundhed

Økologiske fødevarer er genstand for stigende forbrugerinteresse og politisk opmærksomhed i hele den vestlige verden i disse år. Det er i den forbindelse blevet et stadig væsentligere tema hvorvidt økologiske fødevarer kan anses for at have særlige sundhedsfremmende og sygdomsforebyggende egenskaber. På anbefaling af Det Økologiske Fødevareråd bevilgede Strukturdirektoratet i efteråret 1999 derfor midler til at få samlet den faktuelle viden om økologiske fødevarers sundhedsmæssige betydning. Det Økologiske Fødevareråd anbefalede at denne sammenstilling af viden skulle benyttes som fundament for iværksættelse af ny forskning til yderligere belysning af emnet

Cooking with beer:how much alcohol is left?

AbstractWhen cooking with beer and other alcoholic beverages the loss of ethanol relative to loss of water determines the final concentration of ethanol in the food, but predicting the rate of loss is not simple. Since many people for various reasons (drivers, pregnant women etc.) may strictly want to limit their ethanol intake, it is important to obtain knowledge on this topic. Knowing the final ethanol concentration in prepared foods is also crucial for precisely calculating the energy content of a food. In the current study ethanol was quantified using gas chromatography in ten foods prepared with beer: vinaigrette, pancake, carrot soup, rye bread porridge, steamed fish, spareribs, braised beef, rye bread and wheat bread before, during and after preparation. The estimated amount of ethanol per serving was calculated accordingly. The final concentrations in the foods were in the range from 2.62% (v/v) and 2.48% (w/w) to below detection limit. The highest estimated amount of ethanol per serving was accordingly 1.28g which would be of little concern to most people. Theoretical concentration values calculated from the recipe were in most cases higher than the measured ones, since these values do not reflect the loss during preparation. Nor do the theoretical concentration values reflect the production of ethanol in yeast fermented foods as demonstrated by the rye bread in which case the measured ethanol concentration was higher than the theoretical. The heat-treated foods generally decreased in ethanol concentration during preparation, implying that a higher proportion of the initial amount of ethanol has been lost than of water. The decrease in ethanol concentration observed during cooking further implies that the cook can control the final ethanol content of a food by adjusting cooking time. The other parameter in control of the cook is the initial concentration as prescribed by the recipe

Resistant starch and protein intake enhances fat oxidation and feelings of fullness in lean and overweight/obese women

BACKGROUND: Diets high in either resistant starch or protein have been shown to aid in weight management. We examined the effects of meals high in non-resistant or resistant starch with and without elevated protein intake on substrate utilization, energy expenditure, and satiety in lean and overweight/obese women. METHODS: Women of varying levels of adiposity consumed one of four pancake test meals in a single-blind, randomized crossover design: 1) waxy maize (control) starch (WMS); 2) waxy maize starch and whey protein (WMS+WP); 3) resistant starch (RS); or 4) RS and whey protein (RS+WP). RESULTS: Total post-prandial energy expenditure did not differ following any of the four test meals (WMS = 197.9 ± 8.9; WMS+WP = 188 ± 8.1; RS = 191.9 ± 8.9; RS+WP = 195.8 ± 8.7, kcals/180 min), although the combination of RS+WP, but not either intervention alone, significantly increased (P <0.01) fat oxidation (WMS = 89.5 ± 5.4; WMS+WP = 84.5 ± 7.2; RS = 97.4 ± 5.4; RS+WP = 107.8 ± 5.4, kcals/180 min). Measures of fullness increased (125 % vs. 45 %) and hunger decreased (55 % vs. 16 %) following WP supplemented versus non-whey conditions (WMS+WP, RS+WP vs. WMS, RS), whereas circulating hunger and satiety factors were not different among any of the test meals. However, peptide YY (PYY) was significantly elevated at 180 min following RS+WP meal. CONCLUSIONS: The combined consumption of dietary resistant starch and protein increases fat oxidation, PYY, and enhances feelings of satiety and fullness to levels that may be clinically relevant if maintained under chronic conditions. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02418429

Increased postprandial glycaemia, insulinemia, and lipidemia after 10 weeks’ sucrose-rich diet compared to an artificially sweetened diet: a randomised controlled trial

The importance of exchanging sucrose for artificial sweeteners on risk factors for developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases is not yet clear. Objective: To investigate the effects of a diet high in sucrose versus a diet high in artificial sweeteners on fasting and postprandial metabolic profiles after 10 weeks.Healthy overweight subjects were randomised to consume drinks and foods sweetened with either sucrose (∼2 g/kg body weight) (n = 12) or artificial sweeteners (n = 11) as supplements to their usual diet. Supplements were similar on the two diets and consisted of beverages (∼80 weight%) and solid foods (yoghurts, marmalade, ice cream, stewed fruits). The rest of the diet was free of choice and ad libitum. Before (week 0) and after the intervention (week 10) fasting blood samples were drawn and in week 10, postprandial blood was sampled during an 8-hour meal test (breakfast and lunch).After 10 weeks postprandial glucose, insulin, lactate, triglyceride, leptin, glucagon, and GLP-1 were all significantly higher in the sucrose compared with the sweetener group. After adjusting for differences in body weight changes and fasting values (week 10), postprandial glucose, lactate, insulin, GIP, and GLP-1 were significantly higher and after further adjusting for differences in energy and sucrose intake, postprandial lactate, insulin, GIP, and GLP-1 levels were still significantly higher on the sucrose-rich diet.A sucrose-rich diet consumed for 10 weeks resulted in significant elevations of postprandial glycaemia, insulinemia, and lipidemia compared to a diet rich in artificial sweeteners in slightly overweight healthy subjects