Study Links Chemicals Widely Found in Plastics and Processed Food To Elevated Blood Pressure…Childr…

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://communications.med.nyu.edu/media-relations/news/study-links-chemicals-widely-found-plastics-and-processed-food-elevated-blood-p

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Study Links Chemicals Widely Found In Plastics And Processed Food To Elevated Blood Pressure In Children And Teens[/font]
[font size=4]Data from nearly 3,000 children shows dietary exposure to certain plastics may play a hidden role in epidemic increases in childhood hypertension[/font]

May 22, 2013 - 4:00am

[font size=3]NEW YORK, May 22, 2013. Plastic additives known as phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are odorless, colorless and just about everywhere: They turn up in flooring, plastic cups, beach balls, plastic wrap, intravenous tubing and—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the bodies of most Americans. Once perceived as harmless, phthalates have come under increasing scrutiny. A growing collection of evidence suggests dietary exposure to phthalates (which can leach from packaging and mix with food) may cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, especially during early development.

Now, new research published today in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that certain types of phthalates could pose another risk to children: compromised heart health. Drawing on data from a nationally representative survey of nearly 3,000 children and teens, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington, the University of Cincinnati and Penn State University School of Medicine, have documented for the first time a connection between dietary exposure to DEHP (di-2-ethyhexylphthalate), a common class of phthalate widely used in industrial food production, and elevated systolic blood pressure, a measure of pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts.

“Phthalates can inhibit the function of cardiac cells and cause oxidative stress that compromises the health of arteries. But no one has explored the relationship between phthalate exposure and heart health in children” says lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, associate professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine and population health at NYU Langone Medical Center. “We wanted to examine the link between phthalates and childhood blood pressure in particular given the increase in elevated blood pressure in children and the increasing evidence implicating exposure to environmental exposures in early development of disease.”

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Researchers from NYU School of Medicine, the University of Washington, the University of Cincinnati, and Penn State University School of Medicine examined six years of data from a nationally representative survey of the U.S. population administered by the National Centers for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Phthalates were measured in urine samples using standard analysis techniques. Controlling for a number of potential confounders, including race, socioeconomic status, body mass index, caloric intake and activity levels, the researchers found that every three-fold increase in the level of breakdown products of DEHP in urine correlated with a roughly one-millimeter mercury increase in a child’s blood pressure. “That increment may seem very modest at an individual level, but on a population level such shifts in blood pressure can increase the number of children with elevated blood pressure substantially,” says Dr. Trasande. “Our study underscores the need for policy initiatives that limit exposure to disruptive environmental chemicals, in combination with dietary and behavioral interventions geared toward protecting cardiovascular health.”

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[Nay]

1. With every one of these new studies linking chemicals and manufactured substances to

all sorts of illnesses (hi BP, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc., etc.), I hope we'll see less of the dismissive idea that every illness is the absolute fault of the ill person for eating the wrong thing, not getting the right exercise, etc.

Lots of our physical problems are caused, aggravated, or initiated by the chemicals we swim in, not necessarily any 'bad habits.'

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. “I hope we'll see less of the dismissive idea that every illness is the…fault of the ill person”

It’s an old, old phenomenon.

People who benefit from good fortune like to believe that somehow they have earned it, and if that’s true, then the victims of poor fortune must have brought it on themselves as well.

Of course, that being said, sometimes, we are responsible for what happens to us (at least in part.)