Tag Archives: health

Bionimbus protected data cloud to enable researchers to analyze cancer data

The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) without having to set up secure, compliant computing environments capable of managing and analyzing terabytes of data, download the data — which can take weeks — and then install the appropriate tools needed to perform the desired analyses. Using technology that was developed in part by the Open Science Data Cloud, a National Science Foundation-supported project that is developing cloud infrastructure for large scientific datasets, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud provides researchers with a more cost- and time-effective mechanism to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data. Drawing insights from big data is imperative for addressing some of today’s most vexing environmental, health and safety challenges. …

Measles surge in Britain years after vaccine/autism scare

More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease. This year, the U.K. has had more than 1,200 cases of measles, after a record number of nearly 2,000 cases last year. The country once recorded only several dozen cases every year. It now ranks second in Europe, behind only Romania. Last month, emergency vaccination clinics were held every weekend in Wales, the epicenter of the outbreak. Immunization drives have also started elsewhere in the country, with officials aiming to reach 1 million children aged 10 to 16. “This is the legacy of the Wakefield scare,” said Dr. David Elliman, spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, referring to a paper published in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues. That work suggested a link between autism and the combined childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, called the MMR. Several large scientific studies failed to find any connection, the theory was rejected by at least a dozen major U.K. medical groups and the paper was eventually retracted by the journal that published it. Still, MMR immunization rates plummeted across the U.K. as fearful parents abandoned the vaccine - from rates over 90 percent to 54 percent. Nearly 15 years later, the rumors about MMR are still having an impact. Now there's “this group of older children who have never been immunized who are a large pool of infections,” Elliman said. The majority of those getting sick in the U.K. - including a significant number of older children and teens - had never been vaccinated. Almost 20 of the more than 100 seriously ill children have been hospitalized and 15 have suffered complications including pneumonia and meningitis. One adult with measles has died, though it's unclear if it was the disease that killed him. The first measles vaccines were introduced in the 1960s, which dramatically cut cases of the rash-causing illness. Since 2001, measles deaths have dropped by about 70 percent worldwide; Cambodia recently marked more than a year without a single case. Globally, though, measles is still one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 and kills more than 150,000 people every year, mostly in developing countries. Measles is highly contagious and is spread by coughing, sneezing and close personal contact with infected people; symptoms include a fever, cough, and a rash on the face. Across the U.K., about 90 percent of children under 5 are vaccinated against measles and have received the necessary two doses of the vaccine. But among children now aged 10 to 16, the vaccination rate is slightly below 50 percent in some regions. To stop measles outbreaks, more than 95 percent of children need to be fully immunized. In some parts of the U.K., the rate is still below 80 percent. Unlike in the United States, where most states require children to be vaccinated against measles before starting school, no such regulations exist in Britain. Parents are advised to have their children immunized, but Britain's Department of Health said it had no plans to consider introducing mandatory vaccination. Last year, there were 55 reported cases of measles in the United States, where the measles vaccination rate is above 90 percent. So far this year, there have been 22 cases, including three that were traced to Britain. In previous years, the U.K. has sometimes exported more cases of measles to the U.S. than some countries in Africa. Portia Ncube, a health worker at an East London clinic, said the struggle to convince parents to get the MMR shot is being helped by the measles epidemic in Wales. “They see what's happening in Wales, so some of them are now sensible enough to come in and get their children vaccinated,” she said. Clinic patient Ellen Christensen, mother of an infant son, acknowledged she had previously had some “irrational qualms” about the MMR vaccine. “But after reading more about it, I know now that immunization is not only good for your own child, it's good for everyone,” she said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/20/measles-surge-in-britain-years-after-vaccineautism-scare/

Combined supplements no better for cholesterol

The cholesterol-lowering agent red yeast rice, an alternative treatment method for patients that can't tolerate statin drugs, doesn't work any better when a plant-derived compound called sterol is added to it, according to a new study.  “I expected to see a synergistic effect with red yeast rice, and I was shocked to see no effects whatsoever,” the study's lead author Dr. David Becker said. Statin drugs like Lipitor are the first-line option for lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, or “bad cholesterol,” for patients at risk for heart disease, said Becker, a cardiologist with Temple Health Systems in Philadelphia. But while 15 million Americans take statin drugs, according to IMS Health, “10 to 20 percent of people can't tolerate statins and stop them,” said Becker, because of bothersome side effects, like muscle pain. Some of those people turn to red yeast rice, which is made by culturing yeast on the grain, and contains a statin-like compound that slows the body from making its own cholesterol. Red yeast rice supplements usually cost about $20 for a bottle of between 100 and 200 600-milligram tablets. Previous studies found that phytosterols, plant-derived steroids found in vegetable oil, lower LDL levels when used alone. Outside of dietary sources like margarine, phytosterol supplements are available in drug stores for about $20 for 200 900-milligram tablets. The study included 220 people with high LDL, averaging around 150 milligrams per deciliter, who had discontinued or declined statins prescribed by their doctor. (For people without heart disease risk factors, national U.S. guidelines recommend levels below 130.) They all took 1,800 milligrams of red yeast rice twice per day. Half of the group also took two 450-milligram tablets of phytosterols twice daily, while others took a placebo, for one year. Half of the participants attended meetings with doctors, dietitians and exercise physiologists for three months and was told to exercise and eat a Mediterranean diet for the rest of the year. The other half did not have special diet or exercise instructions. There was no difference in LDL cholesterol between the phytosterol or placebo groups at three months, six months or one year, according to the study published in the American Heart Journal. “There was absolutely no effect of phytosterols in any manner across the board,” Becker said. Though the diet and exercise group members seemed to have a head start at lowering their LDL, at the end of the study both groups had arrived at the same average of about 110 milligrams per deciliter. SEVERAL LIMITATIONS The trial had several limitations, according to Dr. Jeffrey Shanes, a cardiologist at Loyola-Gottlieb Memorial and Elmhurst Memorial Hospitals in Melrose Park, Illinois. About 30 percent of study participants dropped out of the trial after being screened and put in a treatment group, Shanes, who was not involved in the study, said. The statin-like compound in red yeast rice can cause the same muscle pain as synthetic statins for some patients, he said. Red yeast rice contains some sterols of its own, so it's possible that adding more sterols didn't appear to lower LDL any further because they were already in play, Shanes said. Becker would recommend diet and exercise before red yeast rice, he said. Batches subject to poor quality control may contain a potentially fatal liver-damaging byproduct of yeast fermentation, for example. And it may also increase the risk of muscle injury when combined with other cholesterol drugs. “Under no circumstances should people be going to Walgreens and getting red yeast rice because of the potential drug interactions, because every batch is different,” Shanes said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/17/combined-supplements-no-better-for-cholesterol/

Could marijuana reduce diabetes risk?

There's an unexpected link between marijuana use and factors related to Type 2 diabetes that has medical researchers intrigued. Several studies have found that marijuana users take in more food calories than nonusers, but they still have lower rates of obesity and diabetes, and lower average body mass index (BMI) levels. In a new study, researchers investigated what effects marijuana and its active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) might have on people's metabolism, especially insulin levels. [5 Diets That Fight Diseases] Insulin resistance an important risk factor for diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when the body's cells cannot properly intake insulin. The American Heart Association estimates 35 percent of U.S. adults have metabolic disorders that include insulin resistance. To examine the link between THC and metabolism, researchers gathered the results of 4,657 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional study administered annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the study's participants, 579 were current marijuana users, 1,975 had used the drug in the past but not recently, and 2,103 had never tried marijuana. Researchers analyzed the participants' fasting insulin levels, cholesterol levels, insulin resistance and waist sizes. Multiple benefits seen The results showed that the current marijuana users had 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels than nonusers, and 17 percent lower insulin-resistance levels. Additionally, the regular users of marijuana had smaller average waist sizes, and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, aka “good cholesterol.” “These are indeed remarkable observations that are supported by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions,” Dr. Joseph Alpert, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, said in a statement. Interestingly, only the current users of marijuana (not the former users) experienced the positive results, suggesting that the effects of marijuana use on insulin and insulin resistance only occur after recent use. To test their results, which were published in the latest issue of The American Journal of Medicine, the researchers also adjusted for participants who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Much more research needed “After we excluded those subjects with a diagnosis of diabetes the associations between marijuana use and insulin levels, [insulin resistance], waist circumference and HDL-C were similar and remained statistically significant,” Dr. Elizabeth Penner, a co-author of the study, said in a statement. “Is it possible that THC will be commonly prescribed in the future for patients with diabetes or metabolic syndrome alongside antidiabetic oral agents or insulin for improved management of this chronic illness? Only time will answer this question for us,” Alpert said in an editorial accompanying the article in the journal. “We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short- and long-term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer, diabetes and frailty of the elderly,” Alpert wrote. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/could-marijuana-reduce-diabetes-risk/

Vocal cord paralysis: Explaining Google CEO Larry Page’s rare condition

Earlier this week, Google CEO Larry Page finally revealed the reason behind his soft, hoarse-sounding voice: he suffers from a rare condition called vocal cord paralysis Though Page was able to speak on Wednesday at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer conference, he recently wrote on his Google Plus profile that he has struggled with vocal cord paralysis for the past 14 years. Page said he was first diagnosed with paralysis in his left vocal cord after a bad cold. However, his condition worsened last summer when his right vocal cord also became paralyzed. Experiencing paralysis in both vocal cords is extremely uncommon, according to Dr. Nicole Maronian, director of the Voice Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, who did not treat Page for his condition. “Since I’ve been in practice, since 1998, it’s been one patient. Having it affect both vocal cords, it’s pretty rare,” Maronian told FoxNews.com. Normal vocal cords open and then close completely every time they are stimulated by the nerves. “They have to close in a tight line to get the kind of strong voice out that you and I have today,” Maronian said. But when vocal cords become paralyzed, they are not able to close completely, leaving a gap.  “If there’s a gap, air starts leaking through, and you start sounding breathy, softer,” Maronian explained.   In addition to hoarseness, patients with this paralysis can also experience shortness of breath due to air leaking through the gap between the vocal cords. “They often get a little bit high-pitched, trying to project or pitch the voice. They get short of breath because of all that air leaking out, or have trouble getting full sentences out because of the air leaking out,” Maronian said. Some patients even experience aspiration, when recently swallowed fluids leak through the space in between the vocal cords. Aspiration can lead to coughing symptoms or even “aspiration pneumonia, which has significant morbidity and mortality,” Maronian said. While the paralysis is typically thought to be caused by a viral infection, such as a cold, pneumonia or bronchitis, other factors may be to blame as well.   “Lots of things can affect the nerve: A virus, compression from a thyroid issue, other things like cancer, (or) surgeries where the nerve is ether stretched or pulled,” Maronian said. Page disclosed that he was also diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2008, an inflammation of the thyroid gland, which may or may not affect his vocal cord paralysis. “Sometimes the thyroid gets big which can compress the nerve and push on it. Usually though, the gland burns out and gets small and the nerve compression issue isn’t a piece of it anymore,” Maronian said. Recovery time for vocal cord paralysis can vary. Some patients rebound within months, while others take much longer to heal, Maronian noted. Depending on the needs of the patient, doctors can offer several treatment options for vocal cord paralysis. Patients can wait and see if the condition improves on its own, but many opt for vocal cord injections or surgical procedures to achieve faster relief and recovery. “In the office or operation room, we can (inject) a material next to the vocal cord that pushes it into a more natural position, so it can get closure. (We then) watch and hope it recovers on its own,” Maronian said. Page said in his statement that he plans to “fund a significant research program” through the Vocal Health Institute, led by Dr. Steven Zeitels from the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/vocal-cord-paralysis-explaining-google-ceo-larry-pages-rare-condition/

New SARS-like virus: WHO reports patient-to-nurse spread of deadly infection

Two health workers in Saudi Arabia have become infected with a potentially fatal new SARS-like virus after catching it from patients in their care - the first evidence of such transmission within a hospital, the World Health Organization said. The new virus, known as novel coronavirus, or nCoV, is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003. “This is the first time health care workers have been diagnosed with (novel coronavirus) infection after exposure to patients,” the Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a disease outbreak update late on Wednesday. The health workers are a 45-year-old man, who became ill on May 2 and is currently in a critical condition, and a 43-year-old woman with a coexisting health condition, who fell ill on May 8 and is in a stable condition, the WHO said. France has also reported a likely case of transmission within a hospital, but this was from one patient to another patient who shared the same room for two days. NCoV, like SARS and other similar viruses, can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia. Scientists are on the alert for any sign that nCoV is mutating to become easily transmissible to multiple recipients, like SARS - a scenario that could trigger a pandemic. WHO experts visiting Saudi Arabia to consult with the authorities on the outbreak said on Sunday it seemed likely the new virus could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged, close contact. Initial analysis by scientists at Britain's Health Protection Agency last year found that nCoV's closest relatives were most probably bat viruses. Yet further work by a research team in Germany suggests nCoV may have come through an intermediary - possibly goats. The WHO's Wednesday update said that, while some health care workers in Jordan had previously contracted nCoV, these Saudi cases were the first clear evidence of the virus passing from infected patients. “Health care facilities that provide care for patients with suspected nCoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients and health care workers,” it said. It also advised health care providers to be “vigilant among recent travelers returning from areas affected by the virus” who develop severe acute respiratory infections. Since nCoV first emerged and was identified in September 2012, the WHO says it has been informed of a total of 40 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide, including 20 deaths. Saudi Arabia has had most of the cases - with 30 patients infected, 15 of them fatally - but nCoV cases have also been reported in Jordan, Qatar, Britain, Germany and France.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/new-sars-like-virus-who-reports-first-patient-to-nurse-infection/

Shrinks, critics face off over psychiatric manual

In the new psychiatric manual of mental disorders, grief soon after a loved one's death can be considered major depression. Extreme childhood temper tantrums get a fancy name. And certain “senior moments” are called “mild neurocognitive disorder.” Those changes are just some of the reasons prominent critics say the American Psychiatric Association is out of control, turning common human problems into mental illnesses in a trend they say will just make the “pop-a-pill” culture worse. Says a former leader of the group: “Normal needs to be saved from powerful forces trying to convince us that we are all sick.” At issue is the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, widely known as the DSM-5. The DSM has long been considered the authoritative source for diagnosing mental problems. The psychiatric association formally introduces the nearly 1,000-page revised version this weekend in San Francisco. It's the manual's first major update in nearly 20 years, and a backlash has taken shape in recent weeks: - Two new books by mental health experts, “Saving Normal” and “The Book of Woe,” say the world's most widely used psychiatric guide has lost credibility. - A British psychologists' group is criticizing the DSM-5, calling for a “paradigm shift” away from viewing mental problems as a disease. An organization of German therapists also attacked the new guide. - Even the head of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health complained that the book lacks scientific validity. This week, the NIMH director, Dr. Thomas Insel, tried to patch things up as he and the psychiatrists group issued a joint statement saying they have similar goals for improving the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. The manual's release comes at a time of increased scrutiny of health care costs and concern about drug company influence over doctors. Critics point to a landscape in which TV ads describe symptoms for mental disorders and promote certain drugs to treat them. “Way too much treatment is given to the normal `worried well' who are harmed by it; far too little help is available for those who are really ill and desperately need it,” Dr. Allen Frances writes in “Saving Normal.” He is a retired Duke University professor who headed the psychiatry group's task force that worked on the previous handbook. He says the new version adds new diagnoses “that would turn everyday anxiety, eccentricity, forgetting and bad eating habits into mental disorders.” Previous revisions were also loudly criticized, but the latest one comes at a time of soaring diagnoses of illnesses listed in the manual - including autism, attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder - and billions of dollars spent each year on psychiatric drugs. The group's 34,000 members are psychiatrists - medical doctors who specialize in treating mental illness. Unlike psychologists and other therapists without medical degrees, they can prescribe medication. While there has long been rivalry between the two groups, the DSM-5 revisions have stoked the tensions. The most contentious changes include: - Diagnosing as major depression the extreme sadness, weight loss, fatigue and trouble sleeping some people experience after a loved one's death. Major depression is typically treated with antidepressants. - Calling frequent, extreme temper tantrums “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder,” a new diagnosis. The psychiatric association says the label is meant to apply to youngsters who in the past might have been misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Critics say it turns normal tantrums into mental illness. - Diagnosing mental decline that goes a bit beyond normal aging as “mild neurocognitive disorder.” Affected people may find it takes more effort to pay bills or manage their medications. Critics of the term say it will stigmatize “senior moments.” - Calling excessive thoughts or feelings about pain or other discomfort “somatic symptom disorder,” something that could affect the healthy as well as cancer patients. Critics say the term turns normal reactions to a disease into mental illness. - Adding binge eating as a new category for overeating that occurs at least once a week for at least three months. It could apply to people who sometimes gulp down a pint of ice cream when they're alone and then feel guilty about it. - Removing Asperger's syndrome as a separate diagnosis and putting it under the umbrella term “autism spectrum disorder.” Dr. David Kupfer, chairman of the task force that oversaw the DSM-5, said the changes are based on solid research and will help make sure people get accurate diagnoses and treatment. Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, the psychiatry association's incoming president, said challenging the handbook's credibility “is completely unwarranted.” The book establishes diagnoses “so patients can receive the best care,” he said, adding that it takes into account the most up-to-date scientific knowledge. But Insel, the government mental health agency chief, wrote in a recent blog posting that the guidebook is no better than a dictionary-like list of labels and definitions. He said he favors a very different approach to diagnosis that is based more on biological information, similar to how doctors diagnose heart disease or problems with other organs. Yet there's scant hard evidence pinpointing what goes wrong in the brain when someone develops mental illness. Insel's agency two years ago began a research project to create a new way to diagnose mental illness, using brain imaging, genetics and other evolving scientific evidence. That project will take years. The revisions in the new guide were suggested by work groups the psychiatric association assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses and recent research advances. The association's board of trustees decided in December which recommendations to include. Advocacy groups have threatened Occupy-style protests and boycotts at this week's meeting. “The psychiatric industry, allied with Big Pharma, have massively misled the public,” the Occupy Psychiatry group contends. Organizers include Alaska lawyer Jim Gottstein, who has long fought against overuse of psychiatric drugs. The new manual “will drastically expand psychiatric diagnosis, mislabel millions of people as mentally ill, and cause unnecessary treatment with medication,” says the website for the Committee to Boycott the DSM-5, organized by New York social worker Jack Carney. Committee member Courtney Fitzpatrick, whose 9-year-old son died seven years ago while hospitalized for a blood vessel disease, said she has joined support groups for grieving parents “and by no means are we mentally ill because we are sad about our kids that have died.” Gary Greenberg, a Connecticut psychotherapist and author of “The Book of Woe,” says pharmaceutical industry influence in psychiatry has contributed to turning normal conditions into diseases so that drugs can be prescribed to treat them. Many of the 31 task force members involved in developing the revised guidebook have had financial ties to makers of psychiatric drugs, including consulting fees, research grants or stock. Group leaders dismiss that criticism and emphasize they agreed not to collect more than $10,000 in industry money in the calendar year preceding publication of the manual.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/shrinks-critics-face-off-over-psychiatric-manual/

New study explores providers’ perceptions of parental concerns about HPV vaccination

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality are markedly higher for low-income and minority women due to higher rates of HPV and limited access to screening and treatment. Vaccination for HPV has the potential to reduce health care disparities in cervical cancer rates if girls are vaccinated prior to sexual experimentation. Although providers felt that parents wanted to prevent cervical cancer in their daughters, some had concerns about safety of the vaccine and promoting early or unsafe sexual activity. …

Washington baby bitten by bat treated for rabies

PASCO, Wash. – & A baby is being treated for rabies after it was bitten by a bat that flew out of a patio umbrella on the deck of her grandparents' Pasco home, the Tri-City Herald reported. Dan and Sandra Anderson were babysitting 11-month-old Alanna on Saturday evening when Dan Anderson opened the umbrella and Sandra Anderson noticed something flutter out toward Alanna. “It was weird. I thought maybe it was moths,” Sandra Anderson said. Then she saw the bat clinging to Alanna's back near her left shoulder. She brushed the bat away and then noticed two pair of tiny bite marks, even though the bat had been on the baby only a few seconds. Alanna didn't cry — until she noticed how upset her grandmother was. The baby was given shots at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland. Her grandparents are getting vaccine shots for rabies, too, as a precaution. The family thought it had seen the last of the bat, but they were on the patio again Sunday for Mother's Day when they noticed something black inside the closed umbrella. This time, Alanna's father, Derek Anderson, killed it with a piece of metal. He turned it over to the Benton Franklin Health Department and it tested positive for rabies. The virus can be fatal without medical attention. “I'm thankful we saw the bat on her and could take her for treatment,” said Sandra Anderson. “Everything's fine. It's 100 percent curable,” Derek Anderson said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/15/washington-baby-bitten-by-bat-treated-for-rabies/

Ultra-low salt intake may not boost health, U.S. panel says

Americans at high risk for heart problems who have been told for years to sharply cut salt from their diet may not actually benefit from ultra-low sodium diets and could even face some harm, an independent panel of health experts said on Tuesday. The influential Institute of Medicine, in a report to U.S. health officials, reviewed the latest data on the link between salt intake and health. While blacks, diabetics and others more likely to have heart problems are urged to slash their salt intake, the IOM review showed there was limited evidence such a diet helped, and that too little salt might increase the risk of heart trouble. “The evidence on both the benefit and harm is not strong enough to indicate that these subgroups should be treated differently from the general U.S. population,” the panel wrote. That suggests higher-risk populations may not need such a drastic reduction of salt in their diets and that other steps to curb heart disease risk may be needed. Americans are still consuming far too much salt, the IOM experts said. On average, U.S. adults eat about 1.5 teaspoons of salt over the course of the day, or about 3,400 milligrams. Federal guidelines recommend that healthy people consume no more than 2,300 milligrams daily. But the latest data calls into question whether individuals with higher risk factors for heart disease or stroke should limit their daily intake to 1,500 milligrams, as the government recommends. Brian Strom, the panel's chairman and a public health professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said the newest studies back the known benefits of “reducing sodium from very high intake levels to moderate levels.” “But they also suggest that lowering sodium intake too much may actually increase a person's risk of some health problems,” he said, including heart ailments. Still, the studies are limited and in some cases flawed, so more research is needed, the IOM panel told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requested the report. Health advocates including the American Heart Association were quick to dismiss the findings, saying the recent studies reviewed by IOM focused on sick patients and not the majority of Americans, most of whom eat too much salt. “The bottom line for consumers is still: cut back on sodium,” said the Center for Science in the Public Interest's (CSPI) Bonnie Liebman. 'IT'S PRETTY TOUGH' The problem is not just food loaded with salt. It's also that Americans eat a lot of food that contains lower amounts of salt, such as bread and pasta, without realizing their sodium content. Health officials have called for Americans to take various steps to cut back, such as asking for no-salt dishes in restaurants and eating more naturally low-salt foods like fruits and vegetables. Health advocates said the IOM's review was beside the point given the high levels of sodium that still plague U.S. foods. It's almost impossible to ingest just 1,500 milligrams a day, said Liebman, director of nutrition for CSPI. “Virtually any meal at any restaurant would give you at least half-a-day's worth of sodium, maybe a whole day's worth, maybe more,” Liebman said. “You'd have to make everything from scratch. ... It's pretty tough.” Consumer groups and some lawmakers have for years called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set federal salt levels for food, a recommendation that the IOM backed in 2010. In New York City, health officials have been working with restaurants and food companies to voluntarily remove salt from everyday foods. A trio of studies published on Monday found that smaller restaurants still load their food with salt even as national chains and food manufacturers have cut back.  The FDA, in a statement, said it was reviewing the IOM's report, calling it consistent with its “efforts to work toward achievable and reasonable voluntary reductions in the sodium content of the U.S. food supply.” IOM was not asked to review current federal salt intake guidelines, which were issued in 2010. U.S. health officials are expected to revise the guidelines on salt and other nutrients in 2015.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/15/ultra-low-salt-intake-may-not-boost-health-us-panel-says/