In the News
* Black Cohosh May Cut Breast Cancer Risk (Yahoo! News)
In a large population-based study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that women who took black cohosh were at 61% lower risk of breast cancer while those who took Remifemin had a 53% lower risk of the disease.
* Green Tea May Ease Rheumatoid Arthritis (Forbes)
Already touted for its cardiovascular and anticancer benefits, green tea may also help ease the inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis. A new study conducted at the University of Michigan Health System has demonstrated that epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in green tea protects joint cells from damaging biochemicals associated with rheumatoid arthritis The findings were presented on Sunday at the Experimental Biology 2007, an annual scientific meeting held this year in Washington DC.
* Vitamin D Cancer Study Excites Scientists (CityNews)
Next month, US researchers will announce what they say is the first direct link between vitamin D and cancer prevention. A four-year clinical trial has demonstrated that women taking the vitamin had a 60% reduction in cancer incidence compared to those not taking it.
* Vitamin D May Reduce Falls In Elderly Nursing Home Residents (ScienceDaily)
New research suggests that reducing the number of falls suffered by seniors in nursing homes may be helped by taking a vitamin, along with other measures known to decrease falls. According to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, seniors taking a high daily dose of vitamin D experienced 72% fewer falls compared to those taking a placebo.
* A Cherry On Top: Tart Cherries May Alter Heart/Diabetes Factors (Medical News Today)
The All-American dessert ingredient appears to improve markers of cardiovascular health, including cholesterol, blood sugar and oxidative stress. According to researchers from the University of Michigan, animals given powdered tart cherries in their diet had lower total cholesterol, lower blood sugar, less fat storage in the liver, lower oxidative stress, and increased production of a molecule that helps the body handle fat and sugar, compared with rats that didn’t receive cherries as part of an otherwise similar diet. The researchers presented their findings at Experimental Biology 2007 in Washington, April 27 to May 2.
* Echinacea May Support Immunity in Athletes (Natural Products Industry Insider)
Researchers from Elmhurst College and Detroit’s Wayne State University subjected 32 adults to an exercise protocol known to affect mucosal immunity. Saliva was then collected prior to and five minutes after exercise. Subjects were then randomized to receive a supplement with Echinacea purpurea or a placebo for four weeks. While both groups demonstrated significant exercise-induced reductions in salivary IgA, echinacea supplementation provided the athletes more.
* Changes To Nerves In Throat Lead To Medical Issues In Elderly (Medical News Today)
As we grow older, changes to the nerves in the throat result in less sensitivity, which may play a role in why the elderly are more likely to develop repeat cases of pneumonia, as well as trouble swallowing and aspiration, according to a new study published in the May 2007 edition of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery. The small study found that the total number of myelinic fibers in the superior and recurrent laryngeal nerves in adults in the younger of two age groups was significantly higher than that of a group comprised of the elderly.
* Pistachios May Take Bite Out of Cholesterol (Forbes)
Volunteers who ate three ounces of pistachios a day for one month lowered their total blood cholesterol by 8.4%, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), by 11.6%, and had less LDL relative to high density lipoprotein (HDL). At the start of the study participants ate an average American diet consisting of 35% total fat and 11% saturated fat for two weeks. They were then put onto one of three different diets, all variants of a normal cholesterol-lowering low-fat diet. One included no pistachios, the second 1.5 ounces of pistachios a day, and the third three ounces of pistachios a day.
* Moderate Drinking Linked to Breast Cancer (LiveScience)
It’s well-known that alcohol increases a person’s risk of developing cancer, but the effect of drinking once cancer is present has been less established. A University of Mississippi team gave female mice the human equivalent of two drinks a day for four weeks, causing a doubling in tumor growth.
* Fruit: The New Defense Against Skin Cancer? (FOXNews)
Leave the Coppertone at home. Your best defense against skin cancer brought on by sun exposure may be grapes and black raspberries, according to two separate studies released by university researchers. The studies, one conducted at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and the other, conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, purport that grape seed and black raspberry extracts may prevent skin cancer.
* Federal Study: Tooth Decay in Baby Teeth on Rise (FOXNews)
While tooth decay in young children had been decreasing for the past 40 years, the trend has reversed sending signals that the preschool crowd is eating too much sugar.
* Chemotherapy Fog Is No Longer Ignored as Illusion (New York Times)
For years, breast cancer patients’ complaints of short-term memory loss, poor concentration, and fuzzy thinking were often met with a patronizing “there, there” by oncologists. A flurry of new research, however, has demonstrated that patients with cognitive losses are not imagining things.
* MS Increasingly a Woman’s Disease (WebMD)
Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) outnumber men with the disease by a ratio of four to one according to research conducted at the University of Alabama. The researchers found that in 1940, twice as many women as men in the US had multiple sclerosis. By the year 2000, however, it had grown to about four to one, an increase of nearly 50% per decade. The findings mirror recent research from other countries with more comprehensive MS registries, including Canada, Norway, and Denmark.
* Doctors: Marijuana Triggers Psychosis, Study Used Brain Scans For First Time To Show Link Between Pot And Paranoia (CBS News)
Doctors in Britain have conducted a study using brain scans to show a clear physical link between chemicals in marijuana and psychotic episodes in people who use it. The drug caused temporary symptoms including hallucinations and paranoid delusions. The results, to be presented at an international mental health conference in London, provide physical evidence of the drug’s damaging influence on the human brain.
* Teaching Old Mice New Tricks Opens Door to Lost Memories – CME Teaching Brief? (MedPage Today)
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found it may be possible to recover long-term memory in humans with dementia. Mice that were placed in enriched environment cages for four weeks demonstrated marked recovery of long-term memory compared to control mice. While the enriched environment did not trigger new neuronal growth, it did appear to correlate with sprouting of dendrites, an increased number of synapses, reinstated learning behavior, and access to long-term memories.