Keyword: supplements

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  • Study finds Epsom salts may reduce occurrence of cerebral palsy

    09/05/2008 6:05:07 PM PDT · by Coleus · 9 replies · 299+ views
    star ledger ^ | 08.28.08 | angela stewart
    A common household substance may be the key to reducing the number of babies born each year with cerebral palsy, a study being published today has found. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that infusing pregnant women at risk of premature birth with magnesium sulfate -- commonly known as Epsom salts -- just before they delivered cut their chances of having a baby with cerebral palsy in half. The study's authors say the findings could translate into immediate application by doctors in clinical settings, where about 3 of every 1,000 babies end up being diagnosed...
  • Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills Cancer

    03/27/2008 2:59:29 PM PDT · by blam · 30 replies · 1,168+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 3-27-2008 | University of Rochester Medical Center
    Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills CancerA natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2008) — Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called...
  • Potential for Harm in Dietary Supplements

    04/09/2008 9:12:57 PM PDT · by neverdem · 34 replies · 1,443+ views
    NY Times ^ | April 8, 2008 | JANE E. BRODY
    A form of substance abuse rampant in this country is rarely discussed publicly or privately. It involves abusing legally sold dietary supplements — vitamins, minerals, herbals and homeopathic remedies — all of which can be sold over the counter without prior approval for safety and effectiveness. Although there was much publicity about the hazards of ephedra, once widely used as a weight-loss aid until it was found to be deadly, many other heralded dietary supplements have the potential for harm, especially when taken in large doses or in various combinations with one another or with medically prescribed prescription drugs. Still...
  • Vitamin D Deficiency May Be To Blame For Soft Bones In Baby's Skull

    03/28/2008 10:37:29 AM PDT · by blam · 13 replies · 638+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 3-28-2008 | Endocrine Society
    Vitamin D Deficiency May Be To Blame For Soft Bones In Baby's Skull ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, according to a new study. Furthermore, breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation could prolong the deficiency, which might lead to a risk of serious health problems later in life, including type 1 diabetes and decreased bone density. “Craniotabes, the softening of skull bones, in otherwise normal newborns has largely been regarded as a physiological condition without the need for treatment,” said Dr. Tohru Yorifuji, of Kyoto University Hospital...
  • Key vitamin deficiency linked to tripled risk of dementia: study

    02/05/2008 2:12:13 PM PST · by decimon · 51 replies · 240+ views
    AFP ^ | February 5, 2008 | Unknown
    PARIS (AFP) - Lack of folate, also called vitamin B-9, may triple the risk of developing dementia in old age, according to a study published Tuesday. Researchers in South Korea measured naturally occurring folate levels in 518 elderly persons, none of whom showed any signs of dementia, and then tracked their development over 2.4 years. At the end of the period, 45 of the patients had developed dementia, including 34 diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, said the study, published by the British Medical Association's Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. When the researchers, led by Jin-Sang Yoon of Chonnam National University...
  • Vitamin D Deficiency Study Raises New Questions About Disease And Supplements

    01/26/2008 10:56:49 PM PST · by blam · 73 replies · 729+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 1-27-2008 | Autoimmunity Research Foundation
    Vitamin D Deficiency Study Raises New Questions About Disease And Supplements ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2008) — Low blood levels of vitamin D have long been associated with disease, and the assumption has been that vitamin D supplements may protect against disease. However, this new research demonstrates that ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse. In a new report Trevor Marshall, Ph.D., professor at Australia’s Murdoch University School of Biological Medicine and Biotechnology, explains how increased vitamin D intake affects...
  • Anti-Alzheimer's Mechanism In Omega-3 Fatty Acids Found

    01/02/2008 6:32:19 PM PST · by ConservativeMind · 53 replies · 204+ views
    ScienceDaily ^ | Jan. 2, 2008 | University of California - Los Angeles.
    It's good news that we are living longer, but bad news that the longer we live, the better our odds of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Many Alzheimer's researchers have long touted fish oil, by pill or diet, as an accessible and inexpensive "weapon" that may delay or prevent this debilitating disease. Now, UCLA scientists have confirmed that fish oil is indeed a deterrent against Alzheimer's, and they have identified the reasons why. Greg Cole, professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of UCLA's Alzheimer Disease Research Center, and his colleagues...
  • Bogus Ingredients Harmful, Hard to Spot (China)

    06/14/2007 7:43:57 PM PDT · by JACKRUSSELL · 20 replies · 436+ views
    Casper Star Tribune ^ | June 14, 2007 | By Justin Pritchard
    LOS ANGELES - American consumers are being ripped off and their health possibly put at risk because of bogus ingredients slipped into imports ranging from toothpaste to dietary supplements. Suppliers who substitute cheaper ingredients for the real thing seldom get busted because the government and private labs review few of the products flooding in. Recent bouts of bad ingredients in pet food and toothpaste showed how suppliers can fool the limited safety checks. Fad-driven supplements are particularly vulnerable _ a rush of demand for a pill with an expensive key ingredient such as chondroitin can present a quick-buck opportunity. Much...
  • Twisting The Record On Vitamin D

    12/09/2007 9:52:12 PM PST · by Coleus · 11 replies · 104+ views
    cancer decisions ^ | December 2, 2007 | Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
    A team of researchers led by National Cancer Institute (NCI) epidemiologist Dr. Michal Freedman has published an article suggesting that vitamin D is highly successful in reducing deaths from cancers of the colon and rectum. The researchers studied 16,818 people who had joined a nationwide U.S. government health survey between 1988 and 1994. The volunteers were then followed through the year 2000, by which time 536 had died of cancer. The study found that people with relatively high blood levels of vitamin D when they entered the study had a 72 percent reduction in their risk of dying of colorectal...
  • Green tea may protect against colon cancer (Polyphenon E)

    12/07/2007 4:35:01 PM PST · by NormsRevenge · 20 replies · 131+ views
    Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 12/7/07 | Megan Rauscher
    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An extract of green tea wards off colorectal cancer, animal experiments show. According to research reported at the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation (Polyphenon E) limits the growth of colorectal tumors in rats treated with a substance that causes the cancer. "Our findings show that rats fed a diet containing Polyphenon E are less than half as likely to develop colon cancer," Dr. Hang Xiao, from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey,...
  • Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D

    11/23/2007 7:09:05 PM PST · by devere · 86 replies · 527+ views
    Medical News Today ^ | 09/15/2006 | Dr. J. J. Cannell
    In early April of 2005, after a particularly rainy spring, an influenza epidemic (epi: upon, demic: people) exploded through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where I have worked for the last ten years. It was not the pandemic (pan: all, demic: people) we all fear, just an epidemic. The world is waiting and governments are preparing for the next pandemic. A severe influenza pandemic will kill many more Americans than died in the World Trade Centers, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, and Hurricane Katrina combined, perhaps a million people in the USA alone. Such a disaster would...
  • Vitamin D casts cancer prevention in new light

    05/01/2007 10:46:22 PM PDT · by neverdem · 74 replies · 4,175+ views
    Globe and Mail ^ | April 28, 2007 | MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
    For decades, researchers have puzzled over why rich northern countries have cancer rates many times higher than those in developing countries — and many have laid the blame on dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry. But research into vitamin D is suggesting both a plausible answer to this medical puzzle and a heretical notion: that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren't caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations. Those trying to brand contaminants as the key factor behind cancer in the West are "looking for...
  • Vitamin E trials 'fatally flawed'

    09/21/2007 3:47:19 PM PDT · by decimon · 36 replies · 147+ views
    EurekAlert ^ | Sep 21, 2007 | Balz Frei
    CORVALLIS, Ore. – Generations of studies on vitamin E may be largely meaningless, scientists say, because new research has demonstrated that the levels of this micronutrient necessary to reduce oxidative stress are far higher than those that have been commonly used in clinical trials. In a new study and commentary in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, researchers concluded that the levels of vitamin E necessary to reduce oxidative stress – as measured by accepted biomarkers of lipid peroxidation – are about 1,600 to 3,200 I.U. daily, or four to eight times higher than those used in almost all past clinical...
  • Omega-3 fatty acids protect against diabetes: study

    09/25/2007 3:34:26 PM PDT · by Dysart · 100 replies · 229+ views
    Reuters via Yahoo ^ | 9-25-07 | Julie Steenhuysen
    CHICAGO (Reuters) - A diet rich in fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids helped cut the risk that children with a family history of diabetes would develop the disease, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "It is exciting because it suggests we might be able to develop nutritional interventions to prevent diabetes."Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes in children. It occurs when the immune system goes haywire and starts attacking insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.No one knows exactly what triggers...
  • Study shows vitamin C's cancer-fighting properties

    09/10/2007 6:26:45 PM PDT · by Pharmboy · 57 replies · 1,156+ views
    Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | Mon Sep 10, 2007 | Will Dunham
    Vitamin C can impede the growth of some types of tumors although not in the way some scientists had suspected, researchers reported on Monday. The new research, published in the journal Cancer Cell, supported the general notion that vitamin C and other so-called antioxidants can slow tumor growth, but pointed to a mechanism different from the one many experts had suspected. The researchers generated encouraging results when giving vitamin C to mice that had been implanted with human cancer cells -- either the blood cancer lymphoma or prostate cancer. Another antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine, also limited tumor growth in the mice, the...
  • Broccoli and Other Vegetables Linked with Decreased Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

    08/04/2007 8:52:53 PM PDT · by Coleus · 5 replies · 195+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 07.25.07
    Eating more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower is associated with a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Several studies have demonstrated an association between eating vegetables and a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but study results have not been consistent and many have not investigated the association among patients with aggressive prostate cancer. Victoria Kirsh, Ph.D., of Cancer Care Ontario in Toronto and colleagues evaluated the possible association in 1,338 prostate cancer patients diagnosed in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Each of the men completed a 137-item food-frequency questionnaire. They found that eating fruits and...
  • Red Wine Protects the Prostate

    07/28/2007 5:22:59 AM PDT · by Renfield · 71 replies · 1,596+ views
    Newswise.com ^ | 5-21-07
    Newswise — Researchers have found that men who drink an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week are only 52% as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who do not drink red wine, reports the June 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. In addition, red wine appears particularly protective against advanced or aggressive cancers. Researchers in Seattle collected information about many factors that might influence the risk of prostate cancer in men between ages 40 and 64, including alcohol consumption. At first the results for alcohol consumption seemed similar to the findings...
  • Scientists Isolate Chemical In Curry That May Help Immune System Clear Plaques Found In Alzheimer's

    07/17/2007 5:06:43 PM PDT · by blam · 25 replies · 882+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 2-17-2007 | University Of California
    Source: University of California - Los Angeles Date: July 17, 2007 Scientists Isolate Chemical In Curry That May Help Immune System Clear Plaques Found In Alzheimer's Science Daily — Researchers have isolated bisdemethoxycurcumin, the active ingredient of curcuminoids -- a natural substance found in turmeric root -- that may help boost the immune system in clearing amyloid beta, a peptide that forms the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Using blood samples from Alzheimer's disease patients, researchers found that bisdemethoxycurcumin boosted immune cells called macrophages to clear amyloid beta. Ground turmeric in small bowl. (Credit: iStockphoto/Jenny Horne)In addition, researchers identified the...
  • Low Vitamin D Levels May Be Common In Otherwise Healthy Children

    07/09/2007 3:14:13 PM PDT · by blam · 10 replies · 224+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 7-10-2007 | Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia
    Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Date: July 10, 2007 Low Vitamin D Levels May Be Common In Otherwise Healthy Children Science Daily — Many otherwise healthy children and adolescents have low vitamin D levels, which may put them at risk for bone diseases such as rickets. African American children, children above age nine and with low dietary vitamin D intake were the most likely to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A study in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured blood levels of...
  • U.S. issues new standards for dietary supplements

    06/22/2007 2:57:37 PM PDT · by Dysart · 11 replies · 422+ views
    Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 6-22-07 | Lisa Richwine
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Makers of vitamins, herbs and other dietary supplements taken by millions of Americans must meet new government standards to show the products are free of contamination and contain exactly what the label says, U.S. health officials said on Friday. Food and Drug Administration rules, companies in the $18-billion-a-year industry must test the purity, strength and composition of all of their supplements."This rule helps to ensure the quality of dietary supplements so that consumers can be confident that the products they purchase contain what is on the label," FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said in a statement.Congress gave...
  • Fruit Helps Eyes Stay Healthy (prevents macular degeneration)

    06/15/2004 12:36:29 AM PDT · by FairOpinion · 5 replies · 203+ views
    Forbes ^ | June 14, 2004 | Amanda Gardner
    MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDayNews) -- Bananas, oranges, and other fruits may reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among older people. Scientists have found that people who ate at least three daily servings of fruit had a 36 percent lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than people who ate fewer than 1.5 servings a day. "This is the first good study that has some statistical value that documents what we've been thinking all along," said Dr. Robert Cykiert, a professor of ophthalmology at New York University School of Medicine in New York...
  • Cinnamon and Diabetes—Disease Type Appears to Matter

    04/15/2007 12:53:48 PM PDT · by neverdem · 86 replies · 2,946+ views
    Science News Online ^ | April 14, 2007 | Janet Raloff
    Cinnamon—it's not just for perking up the flavor of pies and applesauce anymore. A teaspoonful of the spice can have medicinal properties, at least for most people with diabetes, several trials have indicated. However, the latest study identifies one population that cinnamon doesn't seem to benefit: individuals suffering from what was once referred to as juvenile diabetes. "Ours is just one study," cautions team leader Kevin M. Curtis of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. It was also a small study. Just 57 teens completed the 3-month trial. However, Curtis notes emphatically, "we saw no benefit" in blood sugar control....
  • High Arsenic Levels Found In Herbal Kelp Supplements

    04/07/2007 5:11:04 PM PDT · by blam · 15 replies · 589+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 4-7-2007 | U of C - Davis
    Source: University of California, Davis - Health System Date: April 7, 2007 High Arsenic Levels Found In Herbal Kelp Supplements Science Daily — A study of herbal kelp supplements led by UC Davis public health expert Marc Schenker concludes that its medicinal use may cause inadvertent arsenic poisoning and health dangers for consumers, especially when overused. Schenker and two researchers evaluated nine over-the-counter herbal kelp products and found higher than acceptable arsenic levels in eight of them. The new study, published in the April issue of Environmental Health Perspectives was prompted by the case of a 54-year-old woman who was...
  • Studies Highlight Cocoa's Remarkable Health Properties (can reverse atherosclerosis)

    03/12/2007 5:46:40 PM PDT · by FairOpinion · 41 replies · 1,364+ views
    Medican News ^ | March 12, 2007 | Catharine Paddock
    Two recent studies suggest compounds in natural cocoa have significant health-giving properties. One study by Prof Norman K. Hollenberg from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, US was published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences. Hollenberg spent years studying the effects of cocoa-drinking on the Kuna people in Panama. He suggests that epicatechin, a flavanol found in high levels in natural cocoa, should be classed as a vitamin and is as important as penicillin and anaesthesia in terms of its potential to impact public health. Although only an observational study, Hollenberg's results from his work...
  • Red Pepper: Hot Stuff For Fighting Fat?

    03/05/2007 5:25:02 PM PST · by blam · 31 replies · 1,029+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 3-5-2007 | American Chemical Society
    Source: American Chemical Society Date: March 5, 2007 Red Pepper: Hot Stuff For Fighting Fat? Science Daily — Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin — the natural compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick — can reduce the growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. In the report, Gow-Chin Yen and Chin-Lin Hsu cite previous research suggesting that obesity can be reduced by preventing immature fat cells (adipocytes) from developing into mature cells....
  • Niacin Expected To Grow As Heart Treatment

    01/23/2007 3:01:37 PM PST · by blam · 38 replies · 1,726+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 1-23-2007
    Niacin expected to grow as heart treatment CLEVELAND, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A Cleveland doctor says use of niacin as a cholesterol drug is likely to increase following the failure of a drug that was found to increase heart problems. Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the famed Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology, said niacin, a B vitamin that raises HDL, commonly known as good cholesterol, is likely to increase in prominence after trials of the Pfizer Inc. cholesterol drug torcetrapib failed, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Raising HDL levels in patients helps to...
  • Could a dose of vitamin B save you from a heart attack?

    03/04/2007 6:07:28 PM PST · by Coleus · 19 replies · 738+ views
    Daily Mail ^ | 12.05.06 | JEROME BURNE
    Amino acids: Key to a healthier heart? Could taking a few B vitamins cut your risk of a heart attack or a stroke? That's the suggestion from a study published last week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).  The key is an amino acid called homocysteine, a substance made when the protein we eat is digested — already there is growing evidence to link it with cardiovascular disease, and even stroke. Homocysteine — with the help of the B vitamins including B12 and folate — is rapidly turned into other useful compounds such as the amino acids cysteine and...
  • Some Vitamin Supplements Increase Death Risk Say Researchers

    02/28/2007 2:45:16 AM PST · by XR7 · 86 replies · 3,044+ views
    MedicalNewsToday ^ | 2/28/07 | Catharine Paddock
    Vitamin supplements taken by millions of people every day for their health could be increasing their risk of death a new Danish-led study suggests. The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The international research team reviewed the published evidence on beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E, Vitamin C and selenium. The team was led by Dr Goran Bjelakovic, from Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. These dietary supplements are marketed as antioxidants and people take them in the hope they will improve health and guard against diseases like cancer and heart disease by eliminating the free radicals...
  • Jersey scientists find a possible key to autism

    02/18/2007 5:39:43 PM PST · by Incorrigible · 46 replies · 1,416+ views
    Newark Star Ledger ^ | 2/18/2007 | Peggy O'Crowley
    Jersey scientists find a possible key to autism A team of New Jersey scientists believes it has found ways to detect biological risk factors for autism through simple urine and blood tests, a discovery that could lead to groundbreaking medical treatment for the neurological disorder. The team of 16 scientists, mostly drawn from the campuses of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, say their findings, the result of more than two years of study on how the body breaks down fatty acids, could be a breakthrough for what is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the nation, with...
  • House, Senate seek FDA regulation of tobacco

    02/17/2007 4:56:02 PM PST · by FairOpinion · 46 replies · 958+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | February 16, 2007 | Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
    House and Senate lawmakers of both parties introduced sweeping legislation Thursday to subject tobacco to the kind of safety regulation that applies to medicines and food, and said prospects for action were the most favorable in years. "This bill is long overdue, and this is the year, I believe, that regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration is going to become law," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), a longtime nemesis of the tobacco industry who heads the Government Reform Committee. "If this gets to the House floor, [its passage] will be [by] a very large margin,"...
  • Iran unveils Aids herbal remedy

    02/03/2007 5:49:04 PM PST · by Lorianne · 8 replies · 648+ views
    Tehran - Iranian health minister Kamran Baqeri Lankarani announced on Saturday that Iran's scientists have produced a herbal medicine to boost the human body's immune system against HIV/Aids. "The herbal-based medication, called Imod, serves to control the Aids virus and increases the body's immunity," Baqeri Lankarani was quoted as saying on state radio by the official news agency IRNA. "It is not a medication to kill the virus, it rather can be used besides other anti-retroviral drugs." The drug was made after five years' of research and had been tested on 200 patients, said IRNA. It said the drug was...
  • Grape Seed Extract Halts Cell Cycle, Checking Growth Of Colorectal Tumors In Mice

    11/13/2006 5:32:05 PM PST · by ConservativeMind · 38 replies · 2,015+ views
    Science Daily ^ | October 29, 2006 | American Assoiation of Cancer Research
    Chemicals found in grape seeds significantly inhibited growth of colorectal tumors in both cell cultures and in mice, according to researchers who have already demonstrated the extract's anti-cancer effects in other tumor types. Their study, published in the October 18 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, documented a 44 percent reduction of advanced colorectal tumors in the animals, and also revealed, for the first time, the molecular mechanism by which grape seed extract works to inhibit cancer growth. The authors found that it increases availability of a critical protein, Cip1/p21, in tumors that effectively freezes the cell cycle, and often pushes...
  • Selenium may help lower HIV levels

    01/22/2007 6:48:24 PM PST · by Pharmboy · 58 replies · 1,010+ views
    Reuters via Yahoo ^ | Jan 22, 2007 | Karla Gale
    Selenium supplements can slow the rise in virus levels in HIV-positive patients, which allows the number of beneficial CD4 immune cell to increase, according to results of a clinical trial supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Low blood levels of selenium have been linked to high HIV virulence and more opportunistic infections, Dr. Barry E. Hurwitz and associates at the University of Miami in Florida report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In lab experiments, the element suppresses HIV-1 replication. Even when antiretroviral therapy (ART) is widely available, failure to keep the virus suppressed "is relatively common,...
  • Ancient Book of Herbs Used in the War on Bacteria

    01/18/2007 8:59:47 PM PST · by FLOutdoorsman · 27 replies · 1,030+ views
    MedGadget ^ | 17 Jan 2007 | MedGadget
    The history of medicine is a rich and fascinating topic which has very little relevance to non-geeks... until now! Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have published a paper in the BMJ, which used an ancient herbal text as a guide to finding novel drugs. Apparently they stumbled onto an antibiotic that can wipe out some of the more stubborn strains of super bacterias. Here's more from the press release: A unique Mayo Clinic collaboration has revived the healing wisdom of Pacific Island cultures by testing a therapeutic plant extract described in a 17th century Dutch herbal text for its anti-bacterial...
  • Folic Acis 'Increases Memory'

    01/18/2007 6:42:20 PM PST · by blam · 37 replies · 1,400+ views
    The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1-19-2007 | Nic Fleming
    Folic acid 'increases memory' By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent Last Updated: 2:26am GMT 19/01/2007 Folic acid supplements can significantly improve the memory and brain power of older people, according to a study to be published today. Researchers found that men and post-menopausal women aged between 50 and 70 who took daily doses had the mental abilities of those almost five years their junior. The supplements also helped maintain speed of information processing, reactions involving movement and overall brain power. These abilities decline with age, and their loss has been linked to a higher risk of dementia. Folate, the natural form...
  • Diet Supplements and Safety: Some Disquieting Data

    01/17/2007 9:41:48 PM PST · by neverdem · 100 replies · 2,080+ views
    NY Times ^ | January 16, 2007 | DAN HURLEY
    In October 1993, during a Senate hearing on a bill to regulate herbs, vitamins and other dietary supplements on the presumption that they were safe, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, spoke up in their defense. Herbal remedies “have been on the market for centuries,” he said, adding: “In fact, most of these have been on the market for 4,000 years, and the real issue is risk. And there is not much risk in any of these products.” That benign view was written into the bill when it was passed by both houses the following year. While the law,...
  • Study: Vitamin D protects against MS

    12/19/2006 10:02:32 PM PST · by Coleus · 39 replies · 953+ views
    Chicago Tribune ^ | 12.19.06 | Ronald Kotulak
    Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may lower the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), research suggests. Previous studies have suggested vitamin D may have a protective effect - but the evidence has been inconclusive. A Harvard School of Public Health team measured levels of the vitamin in large numbers of US military personnel. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the risk of MS fell as blood levels of the vitamin rose. MS is among the most common neurological diseases affecting around two million people worldwide. The researchers uncovered 257 cases of MS...
  • Substance in Red Wine Could Extend Life, Study Says

    11/01/2006 12:08:01 PM PST · by neverdem · 41 replies · 1,265+ views
    NY Times ^ | November 1, 2006 | NICHOLAS WADE
    Can you have your cake and eat it? Is there a free lunch after all, red wine included? Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan. Their report, published electronically today in Nature, implies that very large daily doses of resveratrol could offset the unhealthy, high-calorie diet thought to underlie the rising toll of obesity in the United States and elsewhere, should people respond to the drug as mice...
  • SCORE ONE FOR VITAMIN E

    10/22/2006 8:14:07 PM PDT · by Coleus · 10 replies · 336+ views
    Cancer Decisions ^ | 10.22.06 | Ralph Moss, Ph.D.
    There has been so much negative publicity surrounding the use of antioxidants by patients undergoing treatment for cancer that one could be forgiven for getting the impression that it is the use of antioxidants, rather than the toxicity of chemotherapy, that most seriously threatens the patient’s immune system. But now comes a report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) with some surprisingly positive things to say about a vitamin E derivative. (The report appeared October 1, 2006 in the journal Cancer Research.)  University of Arizona scientists administered alpha-TEA, a chemically altered form of vitamin E, to cancer-susceptible mice...
  • Study: Anti-aging supplements don't work

    10/18/2006 5:58:26 PM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 1 replies · 141+ views
    AP on Yahoo ^ | 10/18/06 | Mike Stobbe - ap
    The fountain of youth apparently does not yet come in a pill. Widely used DHEA supplements and testosterone patches failed to deliver their touted anti-aging benefits in one of the first rigorous studies to test such claims in older men and women. The substances did not improve the participants' strength, their physical performance, or certain other measures of health. "I don't think there's any case for administering these" to elderly people, said Dr. K. Sreekumaran Nair of the Mayo Clinic, lead author of the study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. DHEA, a steroid that is a precursor...
  • Big study in Japan says green tea lowers stroke risk

    10/07/2006 9:19:49 PM PDT · by Coleus · 6 replies · 455+ views
    NorthJersey.com ^ | 09.14.06 | LINDSEY TANNER
    Can drinking green tea really protect against two big killers, strokes and cancer? A huge study in Japan suggests yes and no: It might lower your stroke risk but won't save you from cancer. The study's authors say their findings might explain why the Japanese are less likely than Americans to die of heart disease and stroke. Even so, the answers aren't clear. Green tea has been researched a lot, and many of the studies have come up with conflicting results. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said an analysis found no credible scientific evidence to support...
  • Green tea cuts fatal illness risk

    09/13/2006 4:53:13 AM PDT · by Mark Felton · 96 replies · 2,316+ views
    BBC ^ | 9/13/06 | BBC
    Drinking green tea can substantially cut the risk of dying from a range of illnesses, a Japanese study has found. The research, which looked at over 40,000 people, found the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease was cut by more than a quarter. But British heart experts said the benefits may be linked to the whole Japanese diet, which is healthier than that eaten in the west. The work is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It is questionable whether drinking the same amount of green tea a day in the UK would have a significant impact on...
  • UCLA/VA Study Finds Chemical Found in Curry May Help Alzheimer’s Disease

    10/07/2006 10:24:44 AM PDT · by FairOpinion · 17 replies · 631+ views
    UCLA ^ | Oct. 3, 2006 | UCLA researchers
    UCLA/VA Study Finds Chemical Found in Curry May Help Immune System Clear Amyloid Plaques Found in Alzheimer’s Disease UCLA/VA researchers found that curcumin — a chemical found in curry and turmeric — may help the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta, which form the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Published in the Oct. 9 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, the early laboratory findings may lead to a new approach in treating Alzheimer's disease by enhancing the natural function of the immune system using curcumin, known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Using blood samples from six...
  • The unorthodox practice of chelation (for Autism in Children)

    06/04/2006 4:49:14 PM PDT · by Coleus · 22 replies · 1,218+ views
    MS NBC ^ | 06.04.06 | John Larson
    The unorthodox practice of chelation No one knows for certain what causes autism, but one theory has ignited an intense debate Autism is a mysterious and devastating disorder that is believed to affect as many as 500,000 children in this country. No one knows for certain what causes autism, but one theory — chelation— has sparked controversy. Now, Jim Adams wants to put that theory to the test. In a desperate quest for answers, he is using his scientific know-how to test a controversial therapy called "chelation." And he has a special reason for taking on this mission — his...
  • Treatment with 'friendly' bacteria could counter autism in children

    09/06/2006 9:11:13 AM PDT · by Marius3188 · 21 replies · 1,694+ views
    The Scotsman ^ | 05 Sep 2006 | Ian Johnston
    PROBIOTIC bacteria given to autistic children improved their concentration and behaviour so much that medical trials collapsed because parents refused to accept placebos, a scientist revealed yesterday. The effect of the bacteria was so pronounced that some of the parents taking part in what was supposed to be a blind trial realised their children were taking something other than a placebo. A number then refused to give their children the placebo when they were due to switch, resulting in the collapse of the trial. Glenn Gibson, a microbiologist who ran the study of 40 autistic children aged between four and...
  • Autism May Be Linked To Antioxidant Levels

    09/10/2006 5:43:22 PM PDT · by Coleus · 13 replies · 368+ views
    Health Talk ^ | 04.03.05
    Children with autism have a abnormal metabolic profile that may play a role in the condition, according to researchers at the University of Arkansas. The researchers believe autistic children are more vulnerable to oxidative stress, which occurs when the antioxidant system fails to counteract the production or exposure to free radicals. These free radicals then damage cells in the brain, as well as the gastrointestinal tract, and the immune system, which they believe may contribute to the the neurological, gastrointestinal and immunologic pathology that occurs in autistic children. The team analyzed and compared blood samples from 95 autistic children with...
  • Echinacea cuts cold incidence (big pharma eats their shorts)

    09/20/2006 6:54:52 PM PDT · by djf · 72 replies · 1,674+ views
    Reuters ^ | 09/20/06 | Martha Kerr
    BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Use of echinacea, or extract of the purple coneflower, before the onset of full-blown symptoms of the common cold reduces the incidence by more than a half and the duration by almost two full days, researchers reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology. There are approximately one billion colds reported annually, Dr. Sachin A. Shah told meeting attendees. He commented that 20 percent of patients report using nutraceuticals for symptom management. Of these, echinacea is the most commonly used. Shah of the University of Connecticut, Storrs and colleagues conducted a...
  • Vitamin D may cut pancreatic cancer risk by nearly half

    09/14/2006 7:10:47 PM PDT · by Coleus · 33 replies · 801+ views
    Eureka Alert ^ | 09.12.06 | Warren Froelich
    PHILADELPHIA -- Consumption of Vitamin D tablets was found to cut the risk of pancreatic cancer nearly in half, according to a study led by researchers at Northwestern and Harvard universities. The findings point to Vitamin D's potential to prevent the disease, and is one of the first known studies to use a large-scale epidemiological survey to examine the relationship between the nutrient and cancer of the pancreas. The study, led by Halcyon Skinner, Ph.D., of Northwestern, appears in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. The study examined data from two large, long-term health surveys and found...
  • Milk thistle drug blocks lung cancer in mice

    06/27/2006 6:26:13 PM PDT · by Pharmboy · 12 replies · 389+ views
    Reuters via Yahoo ^ | Tue Jun 27, 2006 | Martha Kerr
    Silibinin, a drug derived from milk thistle, destroys lung cancer in mice, investigators at the University of Colorado, Denver report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Lead investigator Dr. Rana P. Singh told Reuters Health, "We have been studying milk thistle components, silymarin and silibinin, to examine their efficacy and mechanisms against different...cancers for over a decade." In the current study, Singh's team injected mice with a chemical called urethane to induce lung cancer. The animals then received diets containing different doses of silibinin. "We obtained pure silibinin from Sigma Chemical Co., and silibinin diets were commercially prepared...
  • Drinking juiced fruit and veg 'cuts Alzheimer's risk by 76%'

    09/01/2006 12:46:36 AM PDT · by FairOpinion · 52 replies · 1,924+ views
    UK Daily Mail ^ | Sept. 1, 2006 | EMILY COOK
    Drinking fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week can dramatically cut the chances of developing Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found. Researchers followed almost 2,000 volunteers for up to 10 years while monitoring their juice consumption and brain function. They found the risk of Alzheimer's was 76 per cent lower for those who drank juices more than three times a week compared to those who drank them less than once a week. Other research has shown that eating curry can help stave off the disease and improve mental agility because of compounds found in the spice...