Sugar intake not directly linked with fatty liver disease

Washington, Nov 4 (ANI): A new study has claimed that sugar intake is not directly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, as it was earlier believed.

Rather, high-calorie diets promote the progression of this serious form of liver disease.

Researchers conducted a double-blind study of healthy, but centrally overweight men to compare the effects of high intakes of two types of sugar, glucose and fructose, in two conditions - weight-maintaining (moderate-calorie diet) and weight-gaining (high-calorie diet).

In the weight-maintaining period, men on neither diet developed any significant changes to the liver.

However, in the weight-gaining period, both diets produced equivalent features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, including steatosis (fatty liver) and elevated serum transaminase and triglycerides.

These findings indicate that fructose and glucose have comparable effects on one's liver, and calorie intake is the factor responsible for the progression of liver disease.

"Based on the results of our study, recommending a low-fructose or low-glycemic diet to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is unjustified," Professor Ian A. Macdonald, study author and faculty of medicine and health sciences, University of Nottingham, UK, said.

"The best advice to give a patient is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. Our study serves as a warning that even short changes in lifestyle can have profound impacts on your liver," he said.

The study is published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. (ANI)

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Sedentary behaviour linked to precancerous colorectal tumours' recurrence

Washington, Oct. 30 (ANI): Men spending most of their time engaged in sedentary behaviours are at highest risk for recurrence of colorectal adenomas, benign tumours that are known precursors of colorectal cancers, according to a study.

Christine L. Sardo Molmenti, PhD, MPH, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, said that sedentary behaviour is emerging as a risk factor for poor health.

Sardo Molmenti and colleagues performed a pooled analysis of participants of two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trials conducted at the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health: The Wheat Bran Fiber Study and the Ursodeoxycholic Acid Trial.

All participants in the trials had one or more colorectal adenomas removed during a colonoscopy conducted in the six months prior to their trial enrollment.

Among the participants were 1,730 who had completed a self-administered questionnaire that included questions about leisure, recreational, household, and other categories of activity at enrollment, and had undergone a follow-up colonoscopy.

When researchers examined the data for men and women separately, they found that men who reported spending more than 11.38 hours a day engaged in sedentary behaviours, such as writing, typing or working on a computer, and reading, were 45 percent more likely to experience colorectal adenoma recurrence compared with men who spent fewer than 6.90 sedentary hours a day

Further analysis showed that men who reported high levels of sedentary behaviors and low levels of participation in recreational activities such as walking, jogging, and playing golf, were 41 percent more likely to experience colorectal adenoma recurrence compared with men who reported low levels of both sedentary behaviors and recreational activity. (ANI)

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