All About Food: Lose Weight with Red Wine, the Big Breakfast Diet, and Sweet News

A number of food-related developments in health news have gotten my attention in the last few days. So here's a quick summary with links:

• Red wine has gotten another boost as a healthy ingredient of one's diet. Already linked to potential heart and cancer-fighting benefits, it has been mentioned in a study as having benefits for losing weight, too.
  
  
• Another study has found that having a big breakfast can help people lose weight. Of course, what the study considers a "big breakfast" is a 600-calorie meal that has ample carbohydrates and protein, not a Denny's Grand Slam with bacon, eggs, and toast, all fried and smothered in butter and bacon grease. But people following the "big breakfast diet" "lose more weight long term than eating a modest breakfast and following a lower-carb eating plan," according to a WebMD article. The reason seems to be that folks having a bigger, heartier breakfast don't fee as hungry before lunch, or the rest of the day.
  
  
• And finally, the American Medical Association has determined that there's no scientific proof that high-fructose corn syrup deserves the blame for the country's obesity epidemic—at least not any more than sugar or other sweeteners. High-fructose corn syrup is often accused for being worse for a person's health than other sweeteners.
  

Tim Russert Dies of Coronary Thrombosis - What Is It?

[UPDATED] TV newsman Tim Russert died today of what his doctor has said was a coronary thrombosis (it was originally reported as a coronary embolism)... so what is a coronary thrombosis?

A thrombus is a clot that can be made up of blood, cholesterol, and other material that forms in a part of the body and stays there (as opposed to an embolus, which migrates through the bloodstream). Thrombosis occurs when a thrombus creates a blockage in an artery, and in the case of a coronary thrombosis it's one of the coronary arteries that's blocked.

Since the coronary arteries supply blood to the heart. if the blockage is not cleared up the heart will be starved of oxygen, causing the death of heart muscle—what's known as a myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack.

Russert's internist has explained that cholesterol plaque had ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis. He also said that an autopsy showed that Russert had an enlarged heart, according to NBC. And the doctor said that Russert had been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, and was taking medication and engaging in exercise to control it.

"Dry Drowning" a New Summertime Worry for Parents

Last week parents got a new hazard that may befall their children this summer: a little-known phenomenon called dry drowning. The condition burst onto the public's mind recently when it was reported that a 10-year-old South Carolina died more than an hour after being in a swimming pool.

It may sound unlikely that a person can drown on dry land, but that's exactly what happens in dry drowning. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported that 10 to 15% of drownings can be classified as dry drownings. (You can find a CDC fact sheet on drowning here.)

Even a small amount of water in the lungs after swimming can cause illness and even death, as reported in an article on WebMD. The article examines how dry drowning happens, what the signs and symptoms are, how long after water exposure dry drowning is a danger, and more.

As with many illnesses, dry drowning can be prevented if noticed and treated early. So before you head off to the pool or swimming hole with the family, learn the signs of drowning, dry and otherwise, and be safe.

Lorenzo Odone (of "Lorenzo's Oil" Fame) Dies at 30

Lorenzo Odone, whose struggle against a rare disease led his parents to be activists portrayed in the movie "Lorenzo's Oil," has died at age 30.

His parents fought to save him from the metabolic nerve disease adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) despite the fact that they had no scientific background. Lorenzo Odone died at home on Friday at his home after coming down with pneumonia from getting food stuck in his throat.

You can learn more about ALD at Web sites from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, including a fact sheet, and more technical information from the National Center for BiotechnologyInformation. You can find advocacy information from the ALD Foundation.

Lorenzo Odone ended up living 20 years longer than doctors had predicted. He was diagnosed at age 6 with adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD.

The movie "Lorenzo's Oil" starred Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone and Susan Sarandon as his wife Michaela.

Stomach Bug C. diff Causing More Illness... and Death

A new strain a common stomach bug is becoming more widespread in the U.S.... and is becoming more deadly as well. Clostridium difficile, commonly called C. diff, is making more people sick all over the United States, and an article on WebMD notes that the mortality rate has double among those who come down with the illness.

Diagnosed cases of C. diff in American adults more than doubled from 2000 to 2005, a new study reports. And another group of researchers warned last year that the rate of death from C. diff had been jumping by 35% per year. This has scientists calling C. diff the latest "superbug," and even using the "e" word —epidemic —when discussing C. diff.

C. diff is one of those bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract of many people, and does so without causing any harm. (It also is widespread all around us... in the air, soil, etc.) Like other bacteria, though, it can cause problems with certain harmful strains develop, or when sickness or other reason causes the usually harmless bacteria to grow unchecked and become too prevalent.

As the WebMD article notes, C. diff can still be killed with existing antibiotics... though the dangerous new strain is less susceptible to them. What's more, patients who get sick from C. diff may become ill from it a second time, and sometimes more.

You can learn more about C. diff signs and symptoms, causes, and treatment in this article from the Mayo Clinic. C. diff symptoms can include diarrhea, dehydration, and abdominal pain.

The study reporting the increased incidence of C. diff appeared in the June 2008 edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases.