Latest / Morning Medical with Dr. Chow / Ultraprocessed Foods, Whooping Cough Surge, and Botox Pioneer Tribute

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Ultraprocessed Foods, Whooping Cough Surge, and Botox Pioneer Tribute · Morning Medical with Dr. Chow

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  Good morning and welcome to another episode of Morning Medical with Dr.
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  Chow.
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  I'm Dr.
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  Chi-Ming Chow, and I'm here to bring you the latest updates in medical and health news from
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  around the world.
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  Today, we're diving into a topic that's becoming increasingly relevant in our daily
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  lives: ultraprocessed foods.
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  What are they, and just how harmful can they be?
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  Let's get into it.
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  Whether they know it or not, most Americans do not go a day—or even a single meal—without
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  eating ultraprocessed foods.
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  From sugary cereals at breakfast to frozen pizzas at dinner, plus in-between snacks of
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  potato chips, sodas, and ice cream, ultraprocessed foods make up about sixty
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  percent of the United States diet.
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  For kids and teens, it is even higher—about two-thirds of what they eat.
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  That is concerning because ultraprocessed foods have been linked to a host of negative health
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  effects, from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, depression, dementia, and more.
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  One recent study suggested that eating these foods may raise the risk of early death.
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  Nutrition science is tricky, though, and most research so far has found connections, not
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  proof, regarding the health consequences of these foods.
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  Food manufacturers argue that processing boosts food safety and supplies and offers a cheap,
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  convenient way to provide a diverse and nutritious diet.
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  Even if the science were clear, it is hard to know what practical advice to give when
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  ultraprocessed foods account for what one study estimates is seventy-three percent of the
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  United States food supply.
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  The Associated Press asked several nutrition experts about this, and here is what they said.
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  Most foods are processed, whether it is by freezing, grinding, fermentation,
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  pasteurization, or other means.
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  In 2009, Brazilian epidemiologist Carlos Monteiro and colleagues first proposed a system
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  that classifies foods according to the amount of processing they undergo, not by nutrient
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  content.
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  At the top of the four-tier scale are foods created through industrial processes and with
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  ingredients such as additives, colors, and preservatives that you could not duplicate in a
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  home kitchen, said Kevin Hall, a researcher who focuses on metabolism and diet at the National
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  Institutes of Health.
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  "These are most, but not all, of the packaged foods you see," Hall said.
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  Such foods are often made to be both cheap and irresistibly delicious, said Doctor Neena
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  Prasad, director of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Food Policy Program.
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  "They have just the right combination of sugar, salt, and fat, and you just cannot stop eating
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  them," Prasad said.
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  However, the level of processing alone does not determine whether a food is unhealthy or not,
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  Hall noted.
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  Whole-grain bread, yogurt, tofu, and infant formula are all highly processed, for instance,
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  but they are also nutritious.
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  Here is the tricky part.
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  Many studies suggest that diets high in such foods are linked to negative health outcomes.
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  But these kinds of studies cannot say whether the foods are the cause of the negative
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  effects—or whether there is something else about the people who eat these foods that might
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  be responsible.
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  At the same time, ultraprocessed foods, as a group, tend to have higher amounts of sodium,
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  saturated fat, and sugar, and tend to be lower in fiber and protein.
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  It is not clear whether it is just these nutrients that are driving the effects.
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  Hall and his colleagues were the first to conduct a small but influential experiment that
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  directly compared the results of eating similar diets made of ultraprocessed versus unprocessed
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  foods.
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  Published in 2019, the research included twenty adults who went to live at a National
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  Institutes of Health center for a month.
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  They received diets of ultraprocessed and unprocessed foods matched for calories, sugar,
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  fat, fiber, and macronutrients for two weeks each and were told to eat as much as they
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  liked.
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  When participants ate the diet of ultraprocessed foods, they consumed about five
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  hundred calories per day more than when they ate unprocessed foods, researchers found—and
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  they gained an average of about two pounds (one kilogram) during the study period.
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  When they ate only unprocessed foods for the same amount of time, they lost about two pounds
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  (one kilogram).
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  Hall is conducting a more detailed study now, but the process is slow and costly, and results
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  are not expected until late next year.
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  He and others argue that such definitive research is needed to determine exactly how
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  ultraprocessed foods affect consumption.
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  "It is better to understand the mechanisms by which they drive the deleterious health
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  consequences, if they are driving them," he said.
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  Some advocates, like Prasad, argue that the large body of research linking ultraprocessed
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  foods to poor health should be more than enough to spur government and industry to change
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  policies.
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  She calls for actions such as increased taxes on sugary drinks, stricter sodium restrictions
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  for manufacturers, and cracking down on marketing of such foods to children, the same
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  way tobacco marketing is curtailed.
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  Earlier this year, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf broached the
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  subject, telling a conference of food policy experts that ultraprocessed foods are "one of
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  the most complex things I have ever dealt with." But, he concluded, "We have got to have
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  the scientific basis and then we have got to follow through."
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  In countries like the United States, it is hard to avoid highly processed foods—and not clear
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  which ones should be targeted, said Aviva Musicus, science director for the Center for
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  Science in the Public Interest, which advocates for food policies.
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  "The range of ultraprocessed foods is just so wide," she said.
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  Instead, it is better to be mindful of the ingredients in foods.
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  Check the labels and make choices that align with the current United States Dietary
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  Guidelines, she suggested.
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  "We have really good evidence that added sugar is not great for us.
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  We have evidence that high-sodium foods are not great for us," she said.
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  "We have great evidence that fruits and vegetables which are minimally processed are
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  really good for us." It is important not to vilify certain foods, she added.
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  Many consumers do not have the time or money to cook most meals from scratch.
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  "I think foods should be joyous and delicious and should not involve moral judgment," Musicus
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  said.
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  Why are whooping cough cases rising in Canada?
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  It is a question that has been on the minds of many health officials and concerned parents
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  recently.
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  The data shows a significant increase in cases across several provinces compared to
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  pre-pandemic averages.
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  For instance, Quebec has reported more than eleven thousand six hundred seventy cases so
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  far this year.
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  This is a dramatic rise from the annual average of five hundred sixty-two cases between 2015
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  and 2019.
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  Most of the whooping cough patients in Quebec are between the ages of ten and fourteen,
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  according to a spokesperson for the province’s health ministry.
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  The last peak in whooping cough activity in Quebec was in 2019, when one thousand two
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  hundred sixty-nine cases were reported.
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  Ontario is also seeing a surge.
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  As of June, the province has recorded four hundred seventy whooping cough cases, compared
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  to a five-year average of ninety-eight.
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  Toronto alone has reported ninety-nine cases this year, while Ottawa has seen seventy-six.
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  Both figures are more than double the pre-pandemic annual averages for these cities.
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  New Brunswick is another hotspot.
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  The province declared a whooping cough outbreak last week, with one hundred forty-one cases
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  reported so far.
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  This significantly exceeds the five-year average of thirty-four cases per year.
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  Dr.
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  Yves Léger, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health, noted that the
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  province had not seen a whooping cough outbreak in over a decade.
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  "I guess you could say we were certainly overdue for an increase in cases," Dr.
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  Léger said in an interview.
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  So, what is driving this increase?
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  Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease.
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  It can be particularly serious in young children.
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  Canada's chief public health officer, Dr.
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  Theresa Tam, pointed out that whooping cough is a cyclical disease that tends to increase every
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  two to five or six years.
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  "It would appear that we are currently in one of those cyclical increases," said Dr.
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  Allison Chris, an associate medical officer of health at Toronto Public Health.
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  The illness starts with cold-like symptoms and evolves over several weeks to include severe
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  coughing spells.
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  These spells often end with a “whoop” sound as the infected person tries to catch their
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  breath.
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  Vaccines that protect against whooping cough are part of Canada’s routine immunization
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  program.
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  The primary immunization requires four doses, followed by booster shots later in childhood
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  and adolescence.
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  A dose of acellular pertussis-containing vaccine is also recommended for adults and
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  during pregnancy.
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  Dr.
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  Chris suggested that setbacks in routine vaccine coverage since the COVID-19 pandemic
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  could be contributing to the rise in whooping cough cases.
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  The COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy observed during the pandemic may have also impacted the uptake
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  of routine vaccines.
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  Dr.
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  Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist in Toronto, echoed this sentiment.
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  "Even in fully vaccinated people, after a period of time, the immunity can wane," Dr.
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  Banerji said.
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  The rise in whooping cough cases is not limited to Canada.
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  The United States and other countries have also reported increases, prompting the Pan American
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  Health Organization to issue an alert in July.
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  The organization encouraged countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
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  Our final story today is about a pioneer in the field of cosmetic dermatology.
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  Dr.
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  Alastair Carruthers, who passed away on August 19 at the age of 79, was a Canadian
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  dermatologist best known for his groundbreaking work in the cosmetic use of Botox.
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  Botox, or botulinum toxin, is a neurotoxin that was initially developed for medical purposes.
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  It was first refined into a pharmaceutical by Dr.
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  Alan Scott, an ophthalmologist, to treat conditions such as strabismus, which is crossed
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  eyes, and blepharospasm, which is involuntary eyelid twitching and clenching.
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  An unexpected side effect of these treatments was smoother brows, which led to the
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  exploration of its cosmetic applications.
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  Dr.
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  Alastair Carruthers, along with his wife, Dr.
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  Jean Carruthers, an ophthalmologist, were the key figures who investigated and popularized
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  the cosmetic use of Botox.
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  They conducted hundreds of peer-reviewed studies that demonstrated its efficacy in
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  reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
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  While Dr.
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  Alan Scott is often referred to as the “Father of Botox,” the Carrutherses are considered its
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  godparents.
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  Dr.
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  Carruthers’s contributions to cosmetic dermatology have left a lasting impact on the
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  field.
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  His work has allowed millions of people to benefit from Botox treatments for cosmetic
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  purposes, making it one of the most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures worldwide.
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  Dr.
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  Carruthers passed away at his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, after battling
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  advanced Parkinson’s disease.
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  His wife mentioned that he died with the help of Canada’s medical assistance in dying law, a
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  testament to his enduring commitment to patient autonomy and compassionate care.
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  As we remember Dr.
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  Alastair Carruthers, it is important to acknowledge the profound influence he had on
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  both medical and cosmetic dermatology.
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  His pioneering work has not only transformed the way we approach aging but also opened new
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  avenues for medical treatments using botulinum toxin.
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  That wraps up today’s episode of Morning Medical with Dr.
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  Chow.
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  I hope you found our discussions informative and engaging.
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  Thank you for tuning in.
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  Until next time, stay healthy and take care.