Longer Life? Put on a Happy Face

``It confirmed our common-sense belief,'' said Toshihiko Maruta, a psychiatrist who was the lead researcher in the project. ``It tells us that mind and body are linked and that attitude has an impact on the final outcome, death.''

The finding came from a look at 839 people living in the Minnesota county where Mayo is headquartered. They were among a group given a personality survey between 1962 and 1965 which detected how people habitually explain the causes of life's event and then classified them as optimists, pessimists or a bit of both.

In looking at the test subjects 30 years later and comparing them against their expected survival rates, the researchers found that those classified as optimists had a significantly better survival rate while there was a 19 percent increase in the risk of death for the pessimists.

The report, published in the February issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, did not try to explain why positive attitude was equated with longevity. It said that optimists may be less likely to develop depression and helplessness or they might be more positive in seeking medical help and taking care of themselves, with less fatalistic thinking about their own health.

In an editorial published in the same issue commenting on the study, Martin Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said pessimism is both identifiable early in life and can be changed.

As a result, he said, it might be possible to put people into programs to change their way of thinking and lower their risk for physical illness.

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Vegetarian diet in pregnancy linked to birth defect

The team suggests that phytoestrogens, hormone-like compounds found in soy, may be responsible for the link.

Interestingly, the researchers also found that mothers who took iron supplements and those who had influenza in the first 3 months of pregnancy also had a higher risk of having a baby boy with hypospadias.

The authors suggest that more research is needed to see if any of the associations found in the study actually cause the birth defect. ``Nevertheless, it is important to note that there is biological evidence that vegetarians have a greater exposure to phytoestrogens and thus a causal link is biologically feasible,'' they write.

Hypospadias is a birth defect where the opening of the penis is found on the underside of the penis rather than at the tip. It is a common congenital defect, affecting about 1 in 300 newborn males. The condition requires surgery to correct it, where the foreskin is used to repair the problem. Untreated, it can interfere with urination and sexual function.

Drs. K. North and J. Golding, of the University of Bristol in the UK, describe the study in the January issue of BJU International. The investigators asked mothers to fill out questionnaires during pregnancy regarding obstetric history, lifestyle, and dietary practices. Of 7,928 boys born to mothers participating in the study, 51 cases of hypospadias were identified.

Mothers with a vegetarian diet in the first half of pregnancy had a 4.99 times greater risk of having a boy with hypospadias compared with mothers who included meat in their diets, the researchers report.

In addition, mothers who took iron supplements had double the normal risk of having a boy with hypospadias, and influenza during the first 3 months of pregnancy increased the risk of by just over three times.

North and Golding found no evidence to suggest that mothers who smoked or drank alcohol had a higher risk of having a child with hypospadias.

SOURCE: BJU International 2000;85:107-113.

Supplements can boost vitamin C in smokers

The study found that among men with poor diets, levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) were lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. However, when supplemented with the same vitamin pill, vitamin C levels rose more than four times higher in smokers compared with nonsmokers, researchers report.

``Smokers in general seem to benefit more from vitamin C supplementation than do nonsmokers,'' according to Jens Lykkesfeldt of the University of California at Berkeley and the US Department of Agriculture in Davis, and colleagues.

The study authors suggest that smokers may have a greater requirement for the vitamin and as a result, absorb greater amounts from vitamin pills.

The study in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the effects of smoking on antioxidant status. According to the investigators, poor dietary habits combined with the depletion of antioxidants by cigarette smoke puts smokers at greater risk for a number of chronic diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

However, smokers tend to eat more fat and fewer fruits and vegetables than nonsmokers. These differences in dietary habits make it difficult for researchers to determine the effects of smoking alone on antioxidant status.

Therefore, Lykkesfeldt's group compared blood levels of antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and lycopene, in a group of smokers and nonsmokers with similar diets.

Levels of antioxidants were recorded at the beginning of the study and after 90 days of supplementation with a vitamin pill containing 272 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C, 31 mg of vitamin E, and 400 micrograms (mcg) of the B-vitamin folic acid, or a placebo (inactive pill).

Results show that smokers had 34% less vitamin C than nonsmokers at the outset but there were no differences in levels of other antioxidants, suggesting that previous research demonstrating lower levels of vitamin E and beta-carotene among smokers may be due to dietary differences rather than smoking status.

By the end of the study period, vitamin C had increased 194% among supplemented smokers but only 43% among supplemented nonsmokers. Levels of vitamin E rose equally in both groups.

The study group included 37 healthy male smokers and 38 healthy male nonsmokers between 20 and 50 years of age who were randomly assigned to receive a vitamin or a placebo. All subjects consumed only about three servings of fruits and vegetables a day including orange juice, bananas, fried potatoes and tomato products.

The US Department of Agriculture recommends Americans consume 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000;71:530-536.

Apple a day keeps lungs healthy

``This finding is consistent with results from other large epidemiological studies which have reported positive associations between lung function and the consumption of fresh fruit,'' they report in the January issue of Thorax.

The study could not determine if the apples themselves are responsible for better lung function, or if apple-eaters had healthier lifestyles in general.

The investigators looked at the lung function of more than 2,500 Welsh men aged 45 to 59 by measuring how much air they could sharply exhale over one second. The men also completed questionnaires about their medical history, lifestyle, and dietary habits. Five years later, the men were given the same questionnaires and lung tests.

After taking into account other factors that can affect lung function such as smoking and exercise, men who ate five or more apples a week had better lung function that those who did not eat apples. However, apple consumption did not appear to protect against a decline in lung function during the study. Changes in lung function over the 5-year follow-up period were not associated with changes in diet of any kind, according to the report.

``It has been hypothesised that the observed association between lung function and fresh fruit intake is due to the antioxidant vitamin C, but our study provided little evidence of this,'' Butland and colleagues write. Vitamin C was not related to lung function after the researchers took into account other factors that affect the lungs.

Instead, another antioxidant might be involved, according to the researchers. Apples contain a flavonoid called quercetin, which is also found in onions, tea, and red wine. This antioxidant may help to protect the lungs from the cellular damage caused by smoking and air pollution, the authors suggest.

SOURCE: Thorax 2000;55:102-108.

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