HealthDay News — In a clinical report issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and published online September 18 in Pediatrics, recommendations are presented for use of low-carbohydrate diets in children with type 1 diabetes, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

Anna Neyman, MD, and Tamara S. Hannon, MD, from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, developed practical recommendations for pediatricians regarding use of low-carbohydrate diets in patients, including those with type 1 diabetes and those with obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

The authors note there are safety concerns to consider for youth with diabetes who are restricting carbohydrates, including growth deceleration, poor bone health, nutritional ketosis that cannot be distinguished from ketosis resulting from insulin deficiency, and disordered eating behaviors. Low-carbohydrate diets (<26% energy) and very low-carbohydrate (20 to 50g) diets are only recommended for children with type 1 diabetes under close supervision of a diabetes care team. For prevention and treatment of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, reducing nutrient-poor carbohydrate intake by minimizing consumption of processed foods with high amounts of refined grains and added sugars is recommended. In children and adolescents, eliminating sugary beverages and juices significantly improves blood glucose and weight management. Dietary restriction of any kind has physical, metabolic, and psychological consequences, including risk for disordered eating, and poses additional risk for those with diabetes. A reduced-energy diet is most important for achieving weight loss among those for whom weight loss is medically indicated, irrespective of carbohydrate content.

“This statement is not about restrictive diets — it is about providing evidence to clinicians so they can support parents and families in making informed decisions,” Hannon said in a statement.

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HealthDay News — For women, adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality, according to a review published online March 14 in Heart.

Anushriya Pant, from the University of Sydney, and colleagues examined the association between higher vs lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet and incident CVD and total mortality among women in a systematic review and meta-analysis. The meta-analysis included 16 prospective cohort studies with 722,495 female participants.

The researchers found that higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with lower CVD incidence, total mortality, and coronary heart disease (hazard ratios [95% CI], 0.76 [0.72 to 0.81], 0.77 [0.74 to 0.80], and 0.75 [0.65 to 0.87], respectively). Women with higher Mediterranean diet adherence had lower stroke incidence, but the reduction was not statistically significant (hazard ratio, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.01).

“Future research might consider adding more studies that look at the dietary impact on stroke, and subgroup analyses that address female specific cardiovascular risk factors, menopausal status and ethnicity, as well as individual participant data meta-analyses,” the authors write.

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HealthDay News — Another brand of baby formula is facing a recall. Formula manufacturer Reckitt recalled 145,000 cans of Enfamil ProSobee formula on Monday because of possible cross-contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria.

The safety issue “was linked to a material from a third party,” the company noted. All tests have been negative for the bacteria, but the recall was announced out of an abundance of caution. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the formula. The company said it has taken “all appropriate corrective actions, including no longer sourcing this material from the supplier.”

The recall is for 12.9-oz cans of formula manufactured between August and September 2022 with a use-by date of March 1, 2024. The cans have the codes ZL2HZF or ZL2HZZ on the bottom. Cans were shipped throughout the US, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Customers should throw out these cans if they have them or return them to the stores where they were purchased for a refund. The recall does not affect any other ProSobee or Reckitt products.

Last year, 4 infants were sickened and 2 died in 3 states related to Cronobacter illness. Although all the infants had consumed powdered formula made by Abbott Inc. at its Michigan plant, genetic testing of Cronobacter found by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the plant did not match that related to the babies. Still, the Cronobacter found at the Abbott plant triggered a shutdown and a nationwide formula shortage.

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HealthDay News — US regulators are urging Americans to avoid Apetamin, an illegal drug used for weight gain and figure enhancement. The substance, typically sold as a syrup, is manufactured overseas, is illegally imported, and is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Apetamin contains the potent antihistamine cyproheptadine, which requires a physician’s prescription in the US. American consumers may find Apetamin online, on social media, or in some retail stores, but they should not use it, the FDA warned in an agency news release.

Among its dangerous side effects are potential overdose, sedation, cognitive impairment, dizziness, low blood pressure, disorientation and confusion, hallucinations, convulsions, and decreased breath and heart rates. It may lead to coma or death, the FDA said. The substance also decreases mental alertness, which may affect a person’s ability to drive a car or operate machinery.

This strong antihistamine may be dangerously strengthened when taken with alcohol and other central nervous system depressants, such as hypnotics, sedatives, tranquilizers, and anti-anxiety medications, the FDA said.

Reports to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System revealed young adults had taken Apetamin and experienced nervous system disorders, cardiac disorders, and liver injury, the agency said.

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HealthDay News — Faced with mounting pressure to help desperate parents, President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the power of the wartime Defense Production Act to get more infant formula into American homes.

Under the new powers, the federal government can use commercial aircraft or air cargo planes owned by the Defense Department to transport infant formula from countries abroad and fly it into the United States, getting it more rapidly onto store shelves. The move comes 2 days after the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it was also expediting the approvals process so that foreign suppliers of baby formula could quickly get their products into the United States.

“I know parents all across the country are worried about finding enough infant formula to feed their babies — as a parent and as a grandparent, I know just how stressful that is,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. He said he was ordering his administration “to do everything possible to ensure there’s enough safe baby formula and that it’s quickly reaching families that need it the most.”

As the crisis around baby formula has steadily worsened, Biden has faced increasing political pressure from within his own party to fix the problem, according to The New York Times. Many Democrats have pressed Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act as one lever he could use to quickly boost supply.

In another move underway Wednesday evening, the House was expected to approve bipartisan legislation that would grant the federal government emergency authority to broaden the types of formula that can be purchased using benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, The Times said.

About half the formula purchased in the nation is paid for through WIC. Allowing parents to use the benefits to purchase all types of formula is a move that is expected to gain bipartisan support.

The New York Times Article

Cynthia A. Thomson, PhD, RD, from the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues examined long-term health outcomes among postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative CaD trial involving 36,282 women with no history of breast or colorectal cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 1000mg calcium carbonate with 400 IU vitamin D₃ daily or placebo.

The researchers found that after a median cumulative follow-up of 22.3 years, women randomly assigned to CaD vs placebo had a reduction in cancer mortality (hazard ratio, 0.93), and an increase in CVD mortality (hazard ratio, 1.06). No overall effect was seen on other measures, including all-cause mortality. There was considerable variation observed in estimates of cancer incidence when stratified by whether participants reported supplement use before randomization, while no variation was seen for estimates in mortality, except for CVD mortality.

“Effects of vitamin D supplementation for cancer prevention may depend on achieving serum vitamin D concentrations above 50nmol/L,” the authors write. “Given the study design, we could not disentangle the added benefit or harms of supplementation with CaD in combination vs vitamin D alone, a topic worthy of future study.”

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The recalled products have the following batch codes: ZL3FHG (12.6 oz cans); ZL3FMH (12.6 oz cans); ZL3FPE (12.6 oz cans); ZL3FQD (12.6 oz cans); ZL3FRW (19.8 oz cans); and ZL3FXJ (12.6 oz cans). The products have a UPC Code of 300871239418 or 300871239456 and “Use By Date” of “1 Jan 2025”. 

These products were manufactured in June 2023 and distributed primarily in June, July, and August 2023. Testing by MJN confirmed that the products were negative for the bacteria.

According to the Company, most, if not all, of the affected product has already been consumed given the limited availability of remaining stock. To date, there have been no reports of illnesses or adverse events related to this recall.