Brain Wiring Changes Might Help Guard Against Bipolar Disorder

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Naturally occurring brain wiring changes might help prevent bipolar disorder in people who have a high genetic risk for the mental illness, a new study suggests.

The discovery about these brain wiring changes could help efforts to develop better treatments for the disorder, according to Mount Sinai Hospital researchers in New York City.

People with bipolar disorder experience severe swings in mood, energy and activity levels, and the ability to perform daily tasks. Genetics are a major risk factor, and people with a parent or sibling with bipolar disorder are much more likely to develop it than those with no family history of the mental illness.

Researchers used functional MRI to monitor the brains of bipolar disorder patients, their siblings who did not have the illness (resilient siblings) and unrelated healthy volunteers. The bipolar disorder patients and their resilient siblings had similar abnormalities in brain wiring that handles emotional processing, but the resilient siblings had additional changes in that wiring.

“The ability of the siblings to rewire their brain networks means they have adaptive neuroplasticity that may help them avoid the disease even though they still carry the genetic scar of bipolar disorder when they process emotional information,” study lead author Dr. Sophia Frangou, a professor of psychiatry, said in a Mount Sinai news release.

The study was published online Jan. 5 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

“A family history remains the greatest risk factor for developing bipolar disorder and while we often focus on risk, we may forget that the majority of those who fall into this category remain well,” Frangou said.

“Looking for biological mechanisms that can protect against illness opens up a completely new direction for developing new treatments. Our research should give people hope that even though mental illness runs in families, it is possible to beat the odds at the genetic lottery,” she concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about bipolar disorder.

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Artificial Pancreas to Get Long-Term ‘Real-Life’ Trial

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A long-term clinical trial of an artificial pancreas designed to control blood sugar levels in people with type 1 diabetes will begin early this year.

The artificial pancreas will be tested for six months in 240 people with type 1 diabetes at nine sites in the United States and Europe. Researchers will compare this system to current diabetes management with an insulin pump. Then, 180 of those patients will be followed for another six months, the researchers said.

The wearable system — developed by University of Virginia and Harvard University researchers with almost $13 million in funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health — supplies appropriate amounts of insulin by detecting changes in the body and predicting blood sugar levels in advance.

“The idea is that this can lead to an improved quality of life for individuals with this disease — not a solution to diabetes, but a means to really extend the quality of their healthful living,” co-principal investigator Francis Doyle III said in a joint news release from Harvard University and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Doyle is dean of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

About 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system mistakenly destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that plays a key role in regulating blood sugar levels in the body. People with type 1 diabetes must replace that lost insulin, either through multiple daily injections or via a thin tube inserted under the skin that’s then attached to an insulin pump.

The artificial pancreas is not a replica of a human pancreas. Instead, it consists of an insulin pump with tubing inserted under the skin, a blood sugar monitor with a wire sensor placed under the skin, and a smart phone loaded with software that determines how much insulin is required based on factors such as food intake, physical activity, stress, metabolism and sleep.

“The biggest challenge in the design of the artificial pancreas is the inherent uncertainty in the human body,” Doyle said. “Day to day, hour to hour, the various stresses that impact the human body change the way it responds to insulin-controlling glucose. Physical stresses, anxiety, hormonal swings will all change that balance. To be able to control for those factors, we need to see longer intervals of data.”

Doyle said this is the first trial that will give the researchers multiple months of information. That much data will give the researchers a long enough window to learn patterns, adapt and fine-tune the algorithms for the system, and to improve the overall level of glucose control, he explained.

“To be ultimately successful as an optimal treatment for diabetes, the artificial pancreas needs to prove its safety and efficacy in long-term pivotal trials in the patient’s natural environment,” principal investigator Boris Kovatchev, director of the Center for Diabetes Technology at the University of Virginia, said in the news release.

“Our foremost goal is to establish a new diabetes treatment paradigm: the artificial pancreas is not a single-function device; it is an adaptable, wearable network surrounding the patient in a digital treatment ecosystem,” he added.

More information

Learn more about artificial pancreas systems from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Millions of Teens Exposed to E-Cigarette Ads: CDC

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — E-cigarette use is soaring among U.S. teenagers, largely because of advertising aimed at their age group, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Seven out of 10 middle school and high school students say they’ve seen e-cigarette ads in stores, online or in other media, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Not coincidentally, e-cigarette use is increasing rapidly in kids,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

Frieden said the ads are similar to those “that got a generation of kids hooked on tobacco.” They rely on the same themes — independence, rebellion and sex — used to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products, he said.

“This is a page right out of the tobacco company playbook,” Frieden said.

According to the “Vital Signs” report published online Jan. 5 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, more than 13 percent of high school students were using e-cigarettes in 2014 — more than the number smoking regular cigarettes, and up from 1.5 percent from three years earlier.

In middle schools, nearly 4 percent of students were using e-cigarettes by 2014. Meanwhile, spending on e-cigarette advertising jumped from $6.4 million in 2011 to about $115 million in 2014, the study authors noted.

“E-cigarettes shouldn’t be used by kids,” Frieden said. They are nicotine-delivery devices that can become addictive and lead to smoking regular cigarettes, he added.

Moreover, “there is increasing evidence that nicotine may cause long-term damage to the developing brain,” Frieden said. “It may change the wiring of the brain in ways that may be permanent.”

Noting that tobacco advertising has been shown to prompt some kids to start smoking, the researchers said unrestricted marketing of e-cigarettes could upend the progress made over decades to prevent kids from smoking.

For the report, CDC researcher Dr. Tushar Singh and colleagues used data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey. The investigators found that about 69 percent of middle and high school students see e-cigarettes ads from one or more media sources. More than half see ads in retail stores, while about 40 percent see them online. About 36 percent see the ads on TV or at the movies, and around 30 percent spot them in newspapers and magazines.

Currently, e-cigarettes are not regulated in the United States, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it intends to regulate them. “We need a regulatory framework for e-cigarettes — that’s very important,” Frieden said. “It’s a wild West out there.”

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the regulatory process, but no timetable has been set, the CDC authors stated.

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said it’s time for government action.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise that youth use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed when kids are being inundated with marketing for these products,” Myers said.

Indiscriminate e-cigarette marketing, coupled with a lack of government oversight, “is putting the health of our nation’s kids at risk,” said Myers. “This report makes clear that we can’t afford more delays in government oversight of e-cigarettes.”

The final rules, he said, should include strong restrictions on youth-oriented marketing, flavors and Internet sales.

For now, the CDC suggests several ways to keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers:

• Limit sales to places that never admit minors.
• Restrict the number of stores that sell tobacco and e-cigarettes and how close they can be to schools.
• Ban e-cigarette sales over the Internet.
• Require age restrictions to enter e-cigarette websites and to buy or accept deliveries of e-cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes and kids should not be mixing,” Frieden said. “It’s unfortunate that the industry has not been responsible about appealing to kids, and it’s unfortunate that more than 2 million of our kids are using e-cigarettes as a result.”

More information

For more on e-cigarettes, visit the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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How Putting a Mirror in Your Dining Room Might Help You Lose Weight

Photo: Getty Images

Magic mirror on the wall, should I stop eating junk food once and for all? Yes. And using a mirror might actually help you do so, per a new study.

How? Researchers at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab found that eating unhealthy food in front of a mirror can make it seem significantly less delicious.

RELATED: 3 Totally Free and Easy Ways to Lose Weight

To get these results, researchers conducted a taste test with 185 undergraduate students. The students were asked to choose either chocolate cake or fruit salad. After selecting their food, half the participants ate in a room facing a mirror while the other half ate in a reflection-free setting. Afterward, they were asked to rate the taste of the food for the researchers.

Among the cake-eaters, those who ate in the presence of a mirror enjoyed their cake less than the participants who didn’t have to watch themselves eat.  However, the people who ate fruit didn’t record any difference in tastiness due to setting.

“A glance in the mirror tells people more than just about their physical appearance. It enables them to view themselves objectively and helps them to judge themselves and their behaviors in a same way that they judge others,” lead researcher Ata Jami, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Central Florida, said in a news release.

RELATED: 57 Ways to Lose Weight Forever, According to Science

In other words, having to actually watch yourself eat something unhealthy triggers discomfort brought on by deeply ingrained social standards (in this case, that sugar is bad for your health). However, after conducting a related experiment, Jami found this phenomenon only applies if you opted to eat the unhealthy food—because then you’re actually responsible for the choice.

In that case, could mirrors be a secret to making healthier food choices? Researchers believe the answer is yes.

So if you’re seeking an easy way to boost your weight-loss goals, you may want to consider picking up a new decorative mirror for your dining room or kitchen. It could help you (quite literally) watch what you eat.

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Diet and Exercise Benefit People With Heart Failure

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Lifestyle changes that include a healthy diet and regular exercise appear to improve heart function and exercise capacity in people with a particular form of heart failure, a new study reports.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) is a form of heart failure that’s on the rise. It most often affects overweight and obese older women. This type of heart failure leads to fatigue and shortness of breath during activities, which can affect the ability to exercise, according to the study authors.

The study included 100 obese older people with HFPEF. The randomized clinical trial was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine led by Dr. Dalane Kitzman divided the participants into four groups: diet alone, exercise alone, both diet and exercise, and a control group who didn’t get any treatment.

After 20 weeks, assessments of the patients’ peak exercise oxygen consumption revealed that those in all three treatment groups saw improvements in their ability to exercise. The patients treated with both diet and exercise however, had nearly twice the improvement in their oxygen consumption, the study showed.

In addition to boosting their tolerance for exercise, the study also revealed that diet and exercise reduced the amount of fat cells within the leg muscles, which can improve heart failure patients’ exercise capacity.

More research is needed to investigate the effects of diet on muscle mass, the study’s authors said, but their findings support a treatment approach for heart failure that includes diet and exercise.

The results were published online Jan. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More information

The American Heart Association provides more information on heart failure.

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Antifungal for Yeast Infections Tied to Miscarriage Risk

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A well-known antifungal drug used for vaginal yeast infections may be linked to a slightly increased risk of miscarriage, according to a study of more than 1.4 million Danish pregnancies.

Of the more than 3,300 women who took oral fluconazole (Diflucan) in the 7th through 22nd week of pregnancy, 147 had a miscarriage, compared with 563 miscarriages among the more than 13,000 women who did not take the drug, the researchers found.

“From our study, we can only see that women who have been treated with oral fluconazole more often experience miscarriages than untreated women and women who used a topical [vaginal] antifungal,” said lead researcher Ditte Molgaard-Nielsen, an epidemiologist at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen.

However, the study cannot prove that fluconazole causes miscarriages, she added.

“Our findings cannot precisely show whether fluconazole causes miscarriage. We cannot rule out that fluconazole-treated women differ from untreated women in ways that are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage,” Molgaard-Nielsen said.

She added that until more data are available on the association between fluconazole and the risk of miscarriage, the drug should be prescribed cautiously to pregnant women.

The report was published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Vaginal yeast infections are common during pregnancy. In the United States, it is estimated that 10 percent of pregnant women will develop one. Treatment is either a topical antifungal cream or the oral drug fluconazole, Molgaard-Nielsen said.

“Topical antifungals (vaginal suppositories) are first-line treatment for pregnant women, but a small number of pregnant women receive oral treatment with fluconazole, for example in cases of recurrence, severe symptoms, or when topical treatment fails. But oral fluconazole may also be used as first treatment by personal preference,” she said.

Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said that fluconazole is the only oral drug used to treat yeast infections.

“Women who are trying to become pregnant or who are pregnant should avoid fluconazole,” Wu said. “For these women, a topical medicine is the preferred treatment.”

The researchers also looked at the association between fluconazole and stillbirth. Although fluconazole was tied to an increased risk of miscarriage, it did not significantly increase the risk of stillbirth, Molgaard-Nielsen said. Among the more than 5,300 women who took fluconazole from the 7th week of pregnancy to birth, 21 had a stillbirth, compared with 77 stillbirths among the more than 21,500 women who did not use the drug.

“Although the risk of stillbirth was not significantly increased, this should be investigated further,” she added.

For the study, Molgaard-Nielsen and colleagues collected data on more than 1.4 million pregnancies from 1997 to 2013. They compared women who used oral fluconazole during pregnancy to those who didn’t.

Dr. Jill Rabin, the co-chief of the division of ambulatory care at the Women’s Health Programs-PCAP Services at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said she prefers using topical treatments for yeast infections because of the side effects of fluconazole, such as flu-like symptoms.

Rabin said that all vaginal yeast infections are not the same and treatment needs to be targeted to the specific type of infection.

Moreover, symptoms that appear to be a yeast infection may be something else, she added. “Women should not assume that if they have a discharge and an itch that it is a yeast infection,” Rabin said.

Rabin cautioned against trying to treat these symptoms with over-the-counter drugs. “Women should not try to treat themselves, especially if they are pregnant,” she said. “You want to call your doctor, not Doctor Google.”

More information

For more on vaginal yeast infections, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Some Families Carry Shared Risk of Cancer, Twins Study Shows

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new study of twins has shed light on the shared roles of genetics and environment in determining a person’s risk of cancer.

Having an identical twin diagnosed with cancer increases the other twin’s risk of developing not just that type but any form of cancer, said lead researcher Lorelei Mucci, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

This suggests that some families carry a shared increased risk for any type of cancer, based on their genes, she said.

“Different cancers may share an inherited susceptibility based on genetic factors,” Mucci said. “This is an area that we’re just learning about.”

However, the influence of genetics varies widely depending on the type of cancer, Mucci added.

For example, testicular, skin and prostate cancers were shown to be influenced strongly by genetics, while lung, colon and rectal cancers appeared to be driven largely by environmental factors, she said.

The study involved more than 200,000 twins, both identical and fraternal, who hailed from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. These twins are part of the Nordic Twin Study of Cancer, and were followed an average 32 years between 1943 and 2010.

Researchers compared identical twins with fraternal twins because identical twins share 100 percent of their genes, Mucci said, while fraternal twins are just like ordinary siblings and share on average about half of their genes.

About one-third of the participants developed cancer during the study, and researchers found that, overall, twins are not more likely to develop cancer than the general population, Mucci said.

But when one identical twin developed any cancer, the other twin carried a 14 percent increased cancer risk compared with the general population, the researchers found.

By comparison, a fraternal twin’s cancer risk increased only 5 percent if their sibling was diagnosed with cancer.

These findings demonstrate that “cancer is not only due to genetics or environment alone but is due to a combination of the two,” said Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology for Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“If cancer was simply genetic, identical twins would be affected by cancer equally,” Bernik added. “Although there was an increased risk of cancer amongst identical twins, there was not a 100 percent correlation, indicating that environmental factors also play a part in the development of cancers.”

To delve deeper into that question, the researchers looked at 23 different types of cancer and compared how genetics influenced risk in each.

Overall, the researchers estimated that about 33 percent of cancer risk is inherited from genes.

Some specific cancers carried a tremendous additional genetic risk, however. For testicular cancer, researchers found that a man’s risk of developing this disease was 12 times higher if his fraternal twin developed it, and 28 times higher if his identical twin developed it.

The investigators also found a very strong role of genetics in melanoma (58 percent), prostate cancer (57 percent), and skin cancer (43 percent).

In other cancers, the study found that genetics played a mild to moderate role: ovarian (39 percent), kidney (38 percent), breast (31 percent), and uterine (27 percent).

Finally, researchers identified a set of cancers in which genetics play a very small role. These include lung cancer (18 percent), colon cancer (15 percent), rectal cancer (14 percent), and head and neck cancer (9 percent).

This study is the first to provide family risk estimates for these cancers, the authors said. The research is published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers hope these findings will help doctors counsel patients on the sources of their cancer risk, particularly if they have a family member who has developed cancer.

“Genetic factors, unfortunately, we cannot change, but there are many lifestyle factors we can change to lower one’s risk of cancer,” Mucci said. “If you have a brother who developed lung cancer, even though your risk is higher, you can still lower your risk by quitting smoking.”

More information

For more on genetics and cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Aspirin May Decrease Death From Prostate Cancer, Study Finds

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Men who take aspirin regularly may have a lower risk of dying from prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

“We found that regular aspirin intake after prostate cancer diagnosis decreased the risk of prostate cancer death by almost 40 percent,” said lead researcher Dr. Christopher Allard, a urologic oncology fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

However, he added, “It is premature to recommend aspirin for prevention of lethal prostate cancer, but men with prostate cancer who may already benefit from aspirin’s cardiovascular effects could have one more reason to consider regular aspirin use.”

The findings were presented Jan. 4 at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in San Francisco.

Since this was an observational study, no one can draw a direct cause-and-effect link between aspirin use and risk of death from prostate cancer, said Dr. Sumanta Pal, an ASCO expert and an oncologist at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif.

“These studies are certainly thought-provoking, but are best followed by formal clinical trials where we compare use of aspirin to either no treatment or perhaps a placebo,” Pal said.

Still, Allard speculated that aspirin’s ability to suppress platelets in the blood — which is why aspirin can cause bleeding as a side effect — might help explain how aspirin could prevent the lethal progression of prostate cancer.

“Platelets probably shield circulating cancer cells from immune recognition,” he said. “By depleting those platelets, you’re allowing the immune system to recognize the cancer.”

Allard added that aspirin likely helps prevent the cancer from spreading to other areas of the body, such as the bone.

In the study, men without a diagnosis of prostate cancer who took more than three aspirin tablets a week had a 24 percent lower risk of getting a lethal prostate cancer. However, aspirin didn’t affect the overall likelihood of being diagnosed with prostate cancer or even high-grade prostate cancer, Allard said.

Among men with prostate cancer, regular aspirin use after diagnosis was associated with a 39 percent lower risk of dying from prostate cancer. Use of aspirin before diagnosis didn’t have a measurable benefit, the researchers said.

The study included information from more than 22,000 men in the Physicians’ Health Study. The study began in 1982 to test the benefits and risks of aspirin and beta carotene in the prevention of heart disease and cancer.

Nearly 3,200 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer over the almost three-decade study. Just over 400 men developed lethal prostate cancer. Lethal prostate cancer was defined as either death from prostate cancer or the spread of prostate cancer to other organs.

Allard said men thinking about taking aspirin regularly for any reason should consult their doctor to discuss individual risks and benefits.

Another study from the same meeting suggests that an experimental new blood test can be used as a “liquid biopsy.” This test can then help determine the best medicines for prostate cancer patients.

Solid tumors shed cancer cells into the bloodstream. This test uses a computer to analyze the appearance of those cells, said lead researcher Dr. Howard Scher, chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Patients with circulating cancer cells that varied widely in appearance didn’t respond well to hormone therapy, and survived for shorter lengths of time on average, the researchers said.

“It’s remarkable that a blood test could help us profile cancers in real time, gleaning insights that directly affect patient care decisions,” Pal said. “Eventually, we may be able to spare some men with prostate cancer the significant side effects of hormone therapy.”

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on aspirin and cancer.

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Poor Circulation in Brain Linked to Psychosis in Alzheimer’s Patients

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Psychosis, including delusions and hallucinations, affects about half of Alzheimer’s disease patients. And researchers have set out to clarify the link between these two conditions.

Canadian researchers said they found that cerebrovascular disease — a group of conditions that restrict the circulation of blood to the brain — appears to play a significant role in psychosis for those with Alzheimer’s.

About 19 percent of people with Alzheimer’s living in the community (rather than in a nursing home) have delusions. Another 14 percent have hallucinations, the researchers said.

Psychotic symptoms among people with Alzheimer’s can cause added burdens on loved ones and caregivers. These symptoms can also speed up the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the study authors explained.

For the study, the researchers analyzed autopsy data from more than 1,000 people who had been treated at 29 Alzheimer’s centers in the United States between 2005 and 2012. An Alzheimer’s diagnosis can only be confirmed after death by autopsy.

The research team — led by Dr. Corinne Fischer from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto — said that 890 of the study patients had been clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease while still alive. Of those, nearly 730 had Alzheimer’s that was confirmed by an autopsy, according to the report published Jan. 5 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The autopsies revealed that those with confirmed Alzheimer’s who had been diagnosed with psychosis didn’t have more physical evidence of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains (such as protein deposits).

Instead, the researchers were surprised to learn that risk factors linked to blood vessel problems — such as high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking history — appeared to be strongly related to psychosis.

Because researchers haven’t known the underlying reason for psychosis in Alzheimer’s patients, they’ve been limited in how well they can treat the issue, the study authors explained in a hospital news release.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer’s disease.

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Report: DASH Diet Best Overall Eating Plan

TUESDAY, Jan. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — For the sixth year in a row, a panel of health experts has named the heart-healthy DASH diet the best overall eating plan, according to U.S. News & World Report‘s 2016 Best Diets ranking.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was designed to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels by limiting fats, red meat and sugar in favor of healthy grains, poultry, low-fat dairy and nuts, the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says.

“Our rankings put hard numbers on the belief that no one diet is ideal for everybody, but the best food plans overall are sustainable,” Angela Haupt, senior health editor at U.S. News & World Report, said in a news release from the media company.

Every year, U.S. News & World Report asks experts to rank various diets to help the tens of millions of dieters in the United States and around the globe make informed dietary decisions that can help them achieve healthier lifestyles.

The panel of experts — including nutritionists and doctors specializing in diabetes, heart health and weight loss — scored each diet for short-term and long-term weight loss. They also considered how easy each diet was to follow, as well as safety and nutritional value.

“Besides the rankings and data, each diet has a detailed profile that includes how it works, evidence that supports or refutes its claims and a nutritional snapshot — tools that, along with the advice of a physician or nutritionist, can help consumers invest in diets that suit their lifestyles and further their health and wellness goals,” Haupt said.

The panel evaluated 38 of the most popular or trendy diets this year. After ranking them in nine categories, the experts found the MIND diet tied for second place for best overall diet with the cholesterol-lowering TLC diet. The MIND diet includes some features of the DASH diet and Mediterranean diet, such as high consumption of fruits, vegetables and fish, but focuses on foods that promote brain health.

The MIND diet ranked first in the “Easiest Diet to Follow” category in a three-way tie with Weight Watchers and the Fertility diet, which asserts that certain dietary changes can boost fertility.

The Fertility diet, which calls for the elimination of trans fats, also ranked as the best diet for diabetes, the report revealed. The Biggest Loser diet and the DASH diet came in second and third, respectively, in the diabetes category.

The DASH diet scored highest when it comes to healthy eating, followed by the TLC diet. The Mediterranean and the MIND diet tied for third place in this category.

The Weight Watchers diet ranked highest out of all weight-loss diets but tied with the Mayo Clinic diet as the “Best Commercial Diet.”

When it comes to speedy weight loss, the HMR program and Biggest Loser diet shared the top ranking, followed by the Atkins diet in second place and Weight Watchers in third.

On the opposite end of the list, the Whole30 diet — a 30-day program that bans processed foods, legumes, grains, dairy, alcohol and added sugar — ranked as the worst overall diet on the list, the new report said.

The Raw Food diet and low-carb Atkins diet also scored poorly overall and ranked low in categories like “Best Diets for Healthy Eating.” The Raw Food diet was also considered the most difficult diet to follow, though it was one of the top ranked weight-loss diets, the panel found.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about healthy eating for a healthy weight.

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