Fructose & Abdominal Pain in Children
FRUCTOSE INTOLERANCE COMMON IN CHILDREN WITH ABDOMINAL PAIN
A study has concluded that many children suffering with chronic abdominal pain have fructose intolerance or malabsorption, but the condition can be managed effectively with a low-fructose diet. (Fructose, or fruit sugar, is the simplest and most water-soluble version of sugar and should not be confused with high-fructose corn syrup, which is a family of mixtures of fructose and glucose. Fructose intolerance occurs when the digestive system has impaired fructose-handling compounds. It is similar to lactose intolerance, with which people lack the correct enzyme to digest milk sugar.)
To test children who suffered from chronic abdominal pain, researchers gave them what is known as a breath hydrogen test (BHT). A high reading taken periodically after consumption of fructose indicates the child is fructose intolerant (just as a high reading taken periodically after consuming lactose indicates lactose intolerance).
Fructose is found in fruit, some prepackaged foods, soft drinks and honey, making it difficult to avoid.
But half of afflicted children managed to avoid fructose long-term and their symptom relief was immediate.
This study was presented this afternoon, October 18, 2010 at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 75th annual scientific meeting in San Antonio but has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Intensive Lifestyle Interventions & Obesity
LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS EFFECTIVE FOR OVERWEIGHT
An intensive intervention among obese and overweight persons was proven effective in cutting weight and improving cardiometabolic risks. Overweight is linked to greater risks of diabetes and high blood pressure. Obese and overweight individuals were divided into two groups. One group walked briskly 60 minutes a day, five days a week for a year; the other entered the same program at the six-month mark. Both groups spent the entire year on a weight-loss diet, involving liquid and prepackaged meal replacements. After six months, the exercise-and-diet group had lost a substantial 24 pounds while the diet-only group lost a still substantial 18 pounds.
At year-end, the weight loss was similar for each group: 27 and 22 pounds.
Both groups showed significant improvement in cardiometabolic factors: waist circumference, abdominal fat, liver fat, blood pressure, and insulin resistance.
Researchers concluded intensive intervention dramatically reduces overweight risks, such as diabetes and heart disease. The study was released October 9 in San Diego at the Obesity Society’s 28th Annual Scientific Meeting. It will be published in the October 27, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association and is available online now at http://bit.ly/bSgGph without charge.