Sprinkling special seasoning and sweeteners on food may soon be helping overweight people shed kilograms, researchers are predicting.
These "tastants" stimulate the sense of smell and taste, making people feel fuller faster and helping them to eat less, a US study found.
"This approach uses natural physiology to help people lose weight, which is different than other approaches," said Dr Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
Observing that people who lose their sense of smell and taste from head trauma tend to go on to gain weight, Dr Hirsch hypothesised that heightening these senses might help people lose weight.
Over six moths, the researcher tested the theory on 2,436 overweight or obese adults who used calorie-free "tastant" crystals for flavours from cheddar cheese and onion to banana and spearmint on their food.
The group lost 15 per cent of their body weight compared to two per cent in a similar group taking flavourless crystals.
Dr Hirsch said the tastants work by sending messages to the brain that say "I'm full".
The tastants also fuel "the phenomenon where the first bite of the food tastes great, but the last bite doesn't taste so good," he said.
HYGIENE, NOT PILLS, STOP COLDS
Swallowing vitamin C tablets or Echinacea remedies won't help avoid winter coughs and colds, doctors warn.
The National Prescribing Service, which advises on the use of medications, has urged Australians to use basic good hygiene as their guard against developing lurgies over the colder months.
The service's deputy chief executive Karen Kaye said too many people were relying on vitamins, mineral supplements and other herbal remedies to protect them.
"The evidence currently at hand seems to indicate that vitamin C supplements, zinc and Echinacea do not assist in cold prevention," Kaye said.
"In the case of Echinacea particularly, the quality of these medicines can differ greatly and most have not been tested in good quality clinical trials."
There was also only weak evidence to suggest they could assist once a cold had already developed, she said.
Basic hygiene practices such as washing hands frequently with soap, keeping your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth, and not sharing crockery and cutlery were the best guards against catching a cold, the service said.
DIET STAVES OFF DEMENTIA
Alzheimer's experts believe diet and lifestyle will soon play a vital role in treating the degenerative brain disease.
A new report by Australian scientists published in the journal Nature has catalogued the latest medical developments in the disease, for which there is currently no cure or treatment to slow progression.
"But there are many new approaches in development including vaccination, anti-inflammatory drugs, and others that target the formation and the clearance of toxic proteins that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer's patients," said Professor Jurgen Gotz, director of the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory at the Brain and Mind Research Institute in Sydney.
He said an effective, disease-modifying treatment was just three to five years away.
"And when it arrives we know that what you eat and how you live, as well as an earlier diagnosis will go hand-in-hand with this therapy to successfully treat it," Prof Gotz said.
Calorie-restricted diets and those enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants like gingko biloba and green tea had shown protective qualities in mice.
APARTMENT PUSH FOR AUSSIE ELDERLY
Australia's baby boomers won't accept living in large nursing homes in their old age, an international aged care housing specialist says.
Dutch expert Dr Hans Becker is in Sydney to publicise his programs to house elderly people in apartments in Holland, saying Australia will need to adopt similar plans in the next two decades.
"Dutch older people said 'No' 15 years ago to old style nursing homes and hostels as the only alternatives for when they get to the age they want help to do the things they can't do on their own," said Dr Becker, who pioneered a scheme called Apartments for Life in the mid 1990s.
"The scheme has been snowballing ever since, with more and more ageing baby boomers saying this is what we want for our parents, and one day for ourselves.
"I think the same will happen here in Australia."
The model includes carefully designed apartment complexes, lived in and partly run by independent older people, and offering medical, social and educational services as needed.
Dr Becker addressed the Australia's Benevolent Society, which is planning to introduce the first Apartments for Life complex at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
COOK FROM SCRATCH MAKES A COMEBACK
Australian families are returning to cooking from scratch in an attempt to fight weight and over health issues, a new survey claims.
The research, funded by the red meat industry, found that half of the households with school-aged children said they had made some changes to their children's diet in the past year as a result of the publicity given to childhood obesity.
And three-quarters of mothers questioned said they were making more effort to freshly prepare meals at home without the use of prepackaged foods.
Dr Jenny O'Dea, of the University of Sydney, said the findings suggested the spotlight on obesity and weight management was affecting the way parents were choosing food for the family.
"What's even more surprising is that despite leading increasingly busy lives Australian mums appear to be making time to ensure their families have home cooked meals made from scratch using fresh ingredients," Dr O'Dea said.
"This can only be good news when it comes to our health."
FLU SHOTS PROTECT ELDERLY FROM PNEUMONIA DEATH
The annual flu shot will help older Australians avoid not just influenza but pneumonia as well, a new study suggests.
Research published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection found that community acquired pneumonia was common and frequently fatal among Australians aged 65 and over.
Almost 20 per cent of those who contract it die within 30 days.
But vaccinating a person against the flu made it significantly less likely the patient would die of pneumonia, the researchers showed.
The study also showed certain patient characteristics predicted whether a person would develop the lung disease, namely a history of previous respiratory disease.
Being admitted to an intensive care unit, having renal disease and increasing age increased the likelihood the illness would be fatal, the doctors' website 6minutes reported.
