News in brief - Feb. 14, 2011

Stroke survival rates better for black than white patients - New food guidelines aimed at reducing obesity

Stroke survival rates better for black than white patients

Black stroke patients have better survival rates than white stroke patients, according to a study in the Feb. 1 Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers studied 5,319 black and 18,340 white patients, 18 and older, who were hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke between January 2005 and December 2006 at 164 New York hospitals. They found that in-hospital mortality was lower for blacks than for whites (5% versus 7.4%). Mortality from all causes also was lower for blacks, with 16.5% of black patients dying within a year compared with 24.4% of white patients.

The better outcomes could be a result of blacks being more likely to receive life-sustaining interventions while hospitalized and less likely than whites to be discharged to hospice, according to the study (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21282694).

New food guidelines aimed at reducing obesity

The federal government is urging Americans to make healthier food choices and get more exercise to help curb high obesity rates.

New dietary guidelines issued Jan. 31 by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the Dept. of Health and Human Services recommend that people monitor their calorie intake; balance it with physical activity; drink water in place of sugary drinks; and eat more fruits, vegetables, seafood, whole grains and fat-free or low-fat dairy products. Americans also are advised to consume less salt, added sugars, refined grains and saturated and trans fats.

"The bottom line is that most Americans need to trim our waistlines to reduce the risk of developing diet-related chronic disease," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

More than a third of children and more than two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, he said. The guidelines, which are updated every five years, include 23 recommendations for the public and six additional guidelines for specific groups such as pregnant women (www.cnpp.usda.gov/dgas2010-policydocument.htm).

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