July 15, 2009

Probiotics Help Gastric-Bypass Patients Lose Weight More Quickly, Stanford Study Shows

Business Wire 07-14-09
STANFORD, Calif., Jul 13, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics suggests that the use of a dietary supplement after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery can help obese patients to more quickly lose weight and to avoid deficiency of a critical B vitamin.
In a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, John Morton, MD, associate professor of surgery at the medical school, showed that patients who take probiotics after the gastric-bypass procedure tend to shed more pounds than those who don't take the supplements. Probiotics are the so-called "good" bacteria found in yogurt as well as in over-the-counter dietary supplements that help in the digestion of food.
"Surprisingly, the probiotic group attained a significantly greater percent of excess weight loss than that of control group," said Morton, who wrote the paper with lead author Gavitt Woodard, a third-year medical student, and five other medical students at the Surgery Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation in Stanford's Department of Surgery. Morton has performed more than 1,000 of these bypasses at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.
The researchers followed 44 patients on whom Morton had performed the procedure from 2006 to 2007. Patients were randomized into either a probiotic or a control group. Both groups received the same bariatric medical care and nutritional counseling, as well as the support of weight-loss study groups. Both groups also were allowed to consume yogurt, a natural source of probiotics. In addition, the probiotic group consumed one pill per day of Puritan's Pride, a probiotic supplement that is available online and in many stores. Morton has no financial ties to the company that makes the supplement.
The study also found that levels of vitamin B-12 were higher in the patients taking probiotics -- a significant finding because patients often are deficient in B-12 after gastric-bypass surgery. The probiotics group had B-12 levels of 1,214 picograms per milliliter at three months, compared with the control group's levels of 811 pg/mL.
Morton said he now recommends probiotic supplements to his patients, and he plans to continue to look for ways to enhance the outcomes from the procedure.
Roughly 15 million Americans are morbidly obese, and bypass surgery is becoming an increasingly common treatment for the problem. Some 150,000 Americans who have a body mass index of more than 40 -- who are typically at least 100 pounds overweight -- have the procedure each year.
Morton said the study was prompted by the fact that some patients have problems eating after gastric-bypass surgery. "For some reason, the food doesn't go down right," he said. When no anatomical reasons could be found for blockages, he hypothesized that a build-up of bacteria in the intestine -- bacterial overgrowth -- might be the culprit.
"Bacterial overgrowth can be bad in that it changes your motility, how you empty," Morton said. "A lot of people aren't aware that we all carry about a lot of bacteria in our intestines and that they're extremely helpful in aiding digestion. And I thought, 'Well, if we give these patients probiotics, then maybe we can improve these symptoms.Part of the obesity puzzle may be due to the kind of bacteria you have in your intestine," he said.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8506&Section=Nutrition

Those who walk, bike enjoy better health

United Press International 07-14-09
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jul 13, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. researchers confirm what doctors have long recommended -- women and men who ride a bike or walk to work appear fitter.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, also found men who actively commute are less likely to be overweight or obese and have healthier triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels.
Penny Gordon-Larsen of the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues studied 2,364 adults enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. More than 16 percent of the participants reached their workplace cycling or walking.
"One potentially effective means of increasing physical activity is through alternative, non-leisure forms of physical activity such as active commuting," the study authors say in a statement. "However, little previous research has been conducted on the cardiovascular and overall health benefits of such lifestyle exercise."
For most adults, 60 minutes of brisk walking per day is sufficient to meet physical activity guidelines for avoiding weight gain, the researchers said.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8509&Section=Nutrition

WHO says new flu "unstoppable," calls for vaccine
Last Updated: 2009-07-14 13:23:38 -0400 (Reuters Health)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying the new H1N1 virus is "unstoppable," the World Health Organization gave drug makers a full go-ahead to manufacture vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday and said healthcare workers should be the first to get one.
Every country will need to vaccinate citizens against the swine flu virus and must choose who else would get priority after nurses, doctors and technicians, said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research.
Several reports showed the new virus attacks people differently than seasonal flu -- affecting younger people, the severely obese and seemingly healthy adults, and causing disease deep in the lungs.
Kieny briefed reporters on the findings of the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE. "The committee recognized that the H1N1 pandemic ... is unstoppable and therefore that all countries need access to vaccine," Kieny said.
"The SAGE recognized first that healthcare workers should be immunized in all countries in order to retain a functional health system as the virus evolves," she added.
After that, each country should decide who is next in line, based on the virus's unusual behavior.
Seasonal influenza is deadly enough -- each year it is involved in 250,000 to 500,000 deaths globally. But most are the elderly or those with some kind of chronic disease that makes them more vulnerable to flu, such as asthma.
ELDERLY ADVANTAGE
The elderly seem to have some extra immunity to this new H1N1, which is a mixture of two swine viruses, one of which also contains genetic material from birds and humans. It is a very distant cousin of the H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million to 100 million people.
A study published in the journal Nature on Monday confirmed that the blood of people born before 1920 carries antibodies to the 1918 strain, suggesting their immune systems remember a childhood infection.
The work by Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka also supports findings of other studies, that this new H1N1 strain does not stay in the nose and throat, as do most seasonal viruses.
"The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs," Kawaoka said. Other studies have also shown it can cause gastrointestinal effects, and that it targets people not usually thought of as being at high risk.
"Obesity has been observed to be one of the risk factors for more severe reaction to H1N1" -- something never before seen, Kieny added. It is not clear if obese people may have undiagnosed health problems that make them susceptible, or if obesity in and of itself is a risk.
On Friday, a team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Michigan reported that nine out of 10 patients treated in an intensive care unit there were obese. They also had unusual symptoms such as blood clots in the lungs and multiple organ failure.
None have recovered and three died.
The CDC estimates at least a million people are infected in the United States alone and clinics everywhere are advised not to test each and every patient, so keeping an accurate count of cases will be impossible. The United States has documented 211 deaths and WHO counted 429 early last week.
Kieny said WHO would also work to get better viruses for companies from which to make vaccines. She said the strains that had been distributed did not grow very well in chicken eggs -- used to make all flu vaccines.
One exception - AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit -- makes a live virus vaccine that is squirted up the nose and it is easier to produce, Kieny said.
WHO said countries should continue with their normal vaccination programs against seasonal flu. Kieny said the seasonal H3N2 strain was also very active now in the southern hemisphere's winter.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/14/eline/links/20090714elin023.html

Hormone replacement therapy tied to ovarian cancer
Last Updated: 2009-07-14 16:46:09 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that no matter how hormone replacement therapy is given, it increases the risk of ovarian cancer.
Hormone replacement therapy, consisting of estrogen, progesterone, or both, and used to relieve the symptoms of menopause, has been linked to breast cancer, Dr. Lina Steinrud Morch, from Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues note in their study. Some studies have suggested that it could raise the risk of ovarian cancer.
Morch's team studied more than 900,000 Danish women who were 50 to 79 years of age from 1995 to 2005. None of them had tumors that grew in response to hormones, and none had had their ovaries removed during a hysterectomy or for other reasons.
During the study's follow-up period (an average of eight years), doctors found more than 3,000 ovarian tumors, they report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Women who were currently using hormones were almost 40 percent more likely to develop such tumors.
The rate of ovarian cancer in current hormone users was 0.52 per 1000 years versus 0.40 per 1000 years in never users. This translates into roughly 1 extra case of ovarian cancer per 8300 women who use hormone therapy each year, the authors state.
As noted, the link between hormone therapy and ovarian cancer was apparent regardless of the type of hormones used, or how long they were used.
"The risk of ovarian cancer," the authors conclude, "is one of several factors to take into account when assessing the risks and benefits of hormone use."
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 15, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/14/eline/links/20090714elin026.html

Grapefruit extract may prevent metabolic syndrome: Mouse study

Nutraingredients.com, 15-Jul-2009

The citrus flavonoid naringenin may prevent cholesterol increases, and changes in insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism linked to metabolic syndrome, says a new study with mice.
Animals fed a high fat diet and supplemented with the flavonoid did not gain weight, while other signs of the metabolic syndrome were also prevented, according to findings published in the journal Diabetes.
“The marked obesity that develops in [mice fed a high fat diet] was completely prevented by naringenin,” said lead researcher Murray Huff from the University of Western Ontario.
“What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences,” he added.
If the study’s findings can be repeated in other studies, including human trials, it could see naringenin added to the list of compounds with potential to prevent the metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a condition characterised by central obesity, hypertension, and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism. The syndrome has been linked to increased risks of both type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Study details
The Ontario-based researchers divided mice into four groups: one group was fed on normal chow (control group), while the other three groups were fed a high-fat, or Western, diet (42 per cent calories from fat) for four weeks. Two of the high-fat groups were also supplemented with either 1 or 3 per cent naringenin.
The animals fed only the high-fat diet became insulin and glucose intolerant, and obese. However, supplementation with the flavonoid reversed the increases in triglyceride and cholesterol levels, prevented the development of insulin resistance and completely normalized glucose metabolism, said the researchers.
Commenting on the mechanism, Huff and his co-workers note that naringenin was associated with an activation of PPAR-gamma coactivator 1 alpha, (PGC1-alpha)/PPARalpha-mediated transcription program in the liver, leading to a burning of excess fat, rather than storing it.
“Thus, naringenin, through its correction of many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance, represents a promising therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome,” wrote the researchers, led by Huff from the University of Western Ontario.
uff confirmed that research was ongoing in this are. “The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans,” he said.
Grapefruit heart benefits
Previously, Israeli researchers reported that eating a red grapefruit a day could reduce cholesterol by 15 per cent and triglycerides by 17 per cent and protect against heart disease (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2006, Vol. 54, pp 1887-1892).
The Israeli research, which included by in vitro and human studies, was said to be the first to look at different grapefruit types and their influence on humans who suffer from high blood cholesterol (hyperlipidemia) and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), both of which play major roles in heart disease.
Source: Diabetes
Published online ahead of print, doi:10.2337/db09-0634
“Naringenin prevents dyslipidemia, apoB overproduction and hyperinsulinemia in LDL-receptor null mice with diet-induced insulin resistance”
Authors: E.E. Mulvihill, E.M. Allister, B.G. Sutherland, D.E. Telford, C.G. Sawyez, J.Y. Edwards, J.M. Markle, R.A. Hegele, M.W. Huff
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Grapefruit-extract-may-prevent-metabolic-syndrome-Mouse-study

High-dose plant stanols reveal new cholesterol benefits

Nutraingredients.com, 13-Jul-2009

Two studies using Benecol plant stanols have shown the ability of the clinically-backed extract to reduce cholesterol levels beyond previously held expectations.
The two studies were commissioned by Raisio, the Finnish company that manufactures both Benecol stanol ingredients and Benecol branded end-products such as spreads and yoghurts, to determine the safety of the ingredient at high doses.
While they found this was the case, they were surprised to find that dosages up to 9g per day administered to humans over four weeks in one trial and ten in the other, also reduced cholesterol levels at greater than expected doses.
The studies were presented in June at the 15th International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in Boston, Massachusetts, and were in the process of being peer reviewed, research and development director of the Ingredients Division at Raisio Group, Ingmar Wester, said.
“We wanted to find out if there were any adverse effects above 3g which there weren’t but we were surprised by the finding s because of the enhanced cholesterol-lowering effects in both studies,” he told NutraIngredients-USA.com.
Raisio is analysing the data to determine optimum levels at which stanols can positively affect cholesterol levels, which remain within the scope of commercial viability.
Product testing has indicated levels of up to 6g are viable but European Union regulations would have to change to allow such products to reach market – at least those that can make cholesterol-lowering health claims.
“We hope these studies will affect regulatory thinking,” Wester said. “The current limits retard development of business and a change could allow for additional food products across the EU.”
The studies
The studies were conducted in Finland and the Netherlands and examined the effects of a daily dose of up to 9g of plant stanols administered to 93 participants with raised cholesterol levels.
The Dutch study was conducted at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and participants consumed yoghurts and spreads fortified with plant stanol ester at levels of three, six or nine grams per day for four weeks.
The Finnish study involved 50 people given an oat drink and spread fortified with plant stanol ester at 9g for ten weeks.
The lead researcher of the Finnish study, Professor Helena Gylling, said of the results:"Now it has been shown that plant stanol ester’s effect in preventing the absorption of cholesterol and thus also its effect of reducing blood cholesterol level are boosted with larger doses of plant stanol. Compared to a daily dose of 2-3 grams of plant stanols, a larger dose of plant stanol is still just as safe." 
The current recommended daily dose in the EU is 2g per day, a level that has won a cholesterol-lowering health claim for Benecol in the EU. Unilever won a similar claim for its plant sterol-imbued Pro-activ cholesterol-lowering range.
XV ISA Congress in Boston ‘Very high plant stanol ester intake and serum lipids, sterols, liver function tests, carotenoids, and fat soluble vitamins’ Authors: Gylling et al; ‘Dietary plant stanols dose-dependently decrease LDL-cholesterol - but not cholesterol-standardized carotene - at intakes up to 9 g a day’ Authors: Mensink et al
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/High-dose-plant-stanols-reveal-new-cholesterol-benefits

Statins Given to Prevent Pneumonia in Elderly Actually Increase Pneumonia Risk by 61 Percent
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  July 14, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Published reports say that between 11 million to 30 million Americans are taking the supposedly wonder drugs called statins. These cholesterol lowering medications brought in over $34 billion in sales last year and have raked in a quarter of a trillion dollars since they were introduced two decades ago, according to a report published by Forbes last fall. But this market is apparently not big enough to satisfy Big Pharma. The drugs, which are sold under familiar names like Lipitor, Vitorin, Zocor, Zetia, Crestor and others, are beginning to be pushed for reasons other than lowering cholesterol -- including the alleged prevention of pneumonia.

If this use of the drug doesn't seem to make sense to you, you aren't alone. In fact, giving statins to elderly people to prevent pneumonia increases the risk they will get the disease. 

That's the new finding from a study of more than 3,000 Group Health patients recently published in the British Medical Journal. "Prior research based on automated claims data had raised some hope -- and maybe some hype -- for statins as a way to prevent and treat infections including pneumonia," Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, a physician at Group Health and assistant investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies, said in a statement to the media. "But when we used medical records to get more detailed information about patients, our findings didn't support that approach."

What they found was disturbing: pneumonia risk was 26 percent higher in people using a statin than in those not on the drug. What's more, the extra risk soared up to 61 percent for severe pneumonia that landed people in the hospital.

Dr. Dublin claims she's a fan of statins. However, she admitted in the press statement that some of the claims concerning their benefits could be bogus. "But now we and some others have found that statins may have gotten some unearned credit for health benefits that they don't actually have, including preventing pneumonia," Dublin said. 

Unlike previous research on statins and pneumonia, the new study went to great lengths to review medical records in detail for every research subject. The scientists thoroughly investigated diagnoses to make sure every reported case of pneumonia was a true case of that disease. Remarkably, Dr. Dublin noted, prior studies rarely bothered to do this.

The new study focused on relatively healthy people between the ages of 65 and 94 who had healthy immune systems and did not reside in a nursing home. Dr. Dublin used the same group of patients, with their records coded to protect their privacy, in earlier Group Health research that was published in The Lancet last year. That research demonstrated another widely accepted medical "fact" was also wrong: the flu vaccine provided theelderly with little to no protection from pneumonia.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026620_pneumonia_statins_elderly.html

Colostrum Functions Like Human Growth Hormone to Reverse the Aging Process
Barbara Minton, July 14, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Colostrum has been called the promise of life. It is the first food, in which all the immune and growth factors that insure health and vitality are transferred from the mother to the newborn. Research has shown that colostrum is the one supplement that can bring help to everyone that uses it, largely because of its ability to perform many of the functions of human growth hormone (HGH) in the body. Many scientists believe colostrum may be the most important preventative that can be consumed by a mammal. The value of colostrum has been documented in clinical observations and is supported by a large database. A team of scientists in London has now found that colostrum can prevent the death of human neurons and effectively treat Alzheimer's patients. While this was going on, another research team was documenting that colostrum knocks out intestinal inflammation.

Scientists at St. George's University had already demonstrated that colostrinin, a proline-rich polypeptide isolated from colostrum, can effectively treat Alzheimer's disease patients. In a new study, they investigated whether colostrinin has effects on the aggregation and toxicity of beta-amyloid, the main constituent of plaque in the brain believed to be the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Using data from cytotoxicity essays, they demonstrated that pre-treatment of human neuronal cells with 5 mug/ml of colostrinin for 24 hours confers neuroprotection against beta-amyloid neurotoxicity. Their qualitative and quantitative assays revealed that colostrinin reduced the death of neuronal cells resulting from brain plaque. (Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, July)

In investigating whether colostrum has anti-inflammatory effects on intestinal epithelial cells, scientists in Seoul, Korea stimulated human colon cancercells with interleukin-1beta with and without bovine colostrum. They examined the effects colostrum had on nuclear factor kappaB signaling, and assessed the expression levels of inhibitor protein of nuclear factor kappaB-alpha, COX 2, and p65. They found that colostrum significantly inhibited nuclear factor kappa B-mediated proinflammatory cytokine expression and switched off markers of inflammation. (Nutrition Research, April)

This ancient healer works in unique ways to strengthen immunity

Bovine colostrum is not new. It has been a centerpiece of Ayurvedic healing for thousands of years. Ayurvedic physicians and spiritual leaders have documented both its physical and spiritual benefits. Scandinavian people have made a traditional pudding with colostrum for hundred of years in celebration of life. Even in the U.S. before the pharmaceutical companies tightened their grip, colostrum was commonly used for its antibiotic properties.

Colostrum works in a unique manner to protect the body from pathology. Most pathogens enter the system through the mucous membranes of theintestinal tract. Bacteria, viruses, pollutants, contaminants and allergens must be combated there. An English physician, Dr. David Tyrell, has shown that a high percentage of the antibodies and immunoglobulins present in colostrum are not absorbed but remain in the intestinal tract. Immune factors work there to support proper immune function and healthy intestinal flora. Other immune factors from colostrum are believed to be absorbed and distributed to assist in the internal defense processes.

Colostrum is made by mammals specifically for mammals

Colostrum is the thin cream colored fluid produced during the first few milkings of a mammal after she has given birth. It is the carrier of immunities that are transferred from mother to infant, and one of the reasons breast feeding is so important to the health of human offspring. Colostrum is the essence of pure nutrition, containing immunoglobulins, growth factors, antibodies, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and other special substances designed to prime the body to face a lifetime of invasion by various microorganisms and environmental toxins bent on destruction.

While human mothers produce a small amount of colostrum, cows produce approximately nine gallons during the first thirty-six hours after giving birth. Colostrum is produced by almost all mammals, and is not species specific. Research has shown that the immune and growth factors produced by other mammalian animals are nearly identical to those found in human colostrum.

IGF-1 from colostrum performs many of the functions of human growth hormone

After this transfer of initial growth factor from mother to child, the growing body produces its own growth hormone during the period that growth and development are taking place. The level of growth hormone in humans remains high until growth is completed. Then it declines precipitously. By the age of 30, many people produce only twenty percent of their peak levels of growth hormone. Skin begins to sag and energy starts to slip away.

As the aging process really gets going, the immune system also begins to decline. Aging people have greater difficulty fighting off colds and flu, and energy and zest for life begin to ebb. Bones thin, hair falls out, and stamina and vigor decrease. Some turn to human growth hormone (HGH) replacement, but HGH is only available by prescription and is quite expensive at 300 dollars a month or more. And HGH usually requires injection into the body.

HGH is the closest thing people have to a fountain of youth. No other therapy has the impact on the aging body that HGH has. It is great for weight control and re-contouring the body with loss of belly fat, particularly in the mid-section area associated with increased risk of heart attack and diabetes. People who can deal with the cost and injections claim it is a miracle.

Studies show their assessment is correct. There have been no reports of anyone, anywhere, at any age getting cancer after using HGH for a year or more. Although there are theoretical reasons why HGH might promote cell division, HGH also stimulates the immune system to a level where cancer is not allowed to occur.

In the body, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) is produced in response to growth hormone, and as a result is a marker for HGH. Since naturally produced HGH is released in surges and has a very short life span in the body, it is not practical to measure HGH levels directly. Because much of HGH is used by the body to produce IGF-1, which has a fairly long lifetime in the body, tests for HGH levels rely on the amount of IGF-1 present.

This means that supplementing with colostrum provides many of the benefits of HGH without the high cost or need for daily injections. It is IGF-1 that is responsible for many of the benefits provided by colostrum. Studies indicating that bovine colostrum supplementation can increase levels of IGF-1 in the body date back to 1998. (Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport, Adelaide, South Australia)

In seminal research dating back to 1988, both IGF-1 and IGF-2 as well as a truncated, more potent form of IFG-1 were found in bovine colostrum. IGF was classed as a mitogen that controls replication and repair of DNA and RNA in order to stimulate tissue growth and repair. (Journal of Biochemistry, 1988)

As people start to realize they are aging, they often turn to vitamins, minerals and herbs for the benefits and support those can provide. But plants and minerals do not have immune systems like those of people. They do not produce the same immune factors or immunoglubulins, and they do not have growth factors for skeleton, muscle or skin.

Over 5,000 studies have described the many benefits of colostrum

In research, colostrum has demonstrated the ability to kill viral and bacteria invaders, stimulate tissue repair, stimulate fat utilization for fuel, and optimize cellular reproduction to slow aging. Colostrum increases performance and speeds recovery following injury and stress. It increases mental alertness and fat burning, and normalizes blood sugar levels. Here are some interesting research highlights

Growth factors from colostrum:
IGF-1 is a truncated form of IGF that is 10 times more potent than IGF-1 in stimulating hypertrophy and cell regeneration. It is present in bovine colostrum. (International Journal of Cellular Biology, 1996)

Fibroblast growth factor, IGF-1 and epithelial growth factor are all important mitogens for healing the skin. They are all found in bovine colostrum. (Journal of Surgery Research, 1995)

In a study of 749 patients, IFG-1 blood levels were not associated with prostate specific antigen (PSA) or prostate cancer. (Medical College of Wisconsin)

Low-dose, prolonged growth hormone therapy significantly extended the life span of mice compared to controls. (Mechanics of Aging and Development, (1991)

IGF-1 was purified from bovine colostrum and found to be identical to human serum IGF-1. (Growth Regulation, 1991)

Various growth factors are produced in the gut, including epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-alpha, transforming growth factor-beta, amphiregulin, betacellulin, and heparin-binding EGF-like peptide. These factors are also present in colostrum. EGF promotes repair of the mucosal lining of the gut. Transforming growth factor-alpha plays a role in mucosal healing. Transforming growth factor-beta inhibits cell proliferation and promotes cell differentiation. (Nutrition, 1998)

Mice with an experimentally-induced inflammatory bowel disease fed a diet rich in transforming growth factor beta gained more weight, did not develop diarrhea or prolapse, and had lower pathological scores and lower serum amyloid. This study supports the use of transforming growth factor in treatment of Crohn's disease. (Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2004)

Growth hormone levels decline with age. This may contribute to the decrease in lean body mass and increase in fat mass that occurs with aging. Levels of IGF-1 were measured in elderly men both with growth hormone supplementation and without. Results confirmed that growth hormone levels correlated with lean body and less fat mass. (New England Journal of Medicine, 1990)

Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a major cause of morbidity and death. IGF-1 protects sympathetic neurons from death in conditions of high glucose levels, suggesting a possible etiology of the condition as well as a possible therapy for it. (Hormone and Metabolic Research, 1999)

Receptors for growth hormone and IGF-1 were isolated from human skin, indicating that growth hormone and growth factors may influence skin growth directly. (Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 1992)

IGF-1, IGF-2, the IGF-1 receptor and IGF binding protein act together to simulate muscle cell proliferation and differentiation. (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1989)

Insulin inhibits the breakdown of protein in muscle, thereby increasing protein through the creation of new protein by combining the constituent parts through the use of energy. IGF-1, on the other hand, promotes muscle anabolism by stimulating protein synthesis. Even in the case of an abundance of available amino acids, insulin continues to promote muscle protein balance solely by inhibiting the digestion of muscle, while IGF-1 combined with plentiful amino acids enhances protein synthesis (Journal of Clinical Investigations, 1995)

Colostrum and athletic performance:
Because of its ability to increase stamina and endurance, the effects of bovine colostrum on athletic performance has been the subject of many studies. Supplementing with 20 grams per day in combination with exercise training was shown to increase bone and lean muscle mass in active men and women after a period of eight weeks. (Nutrition, 2001)

The tissue composition of resistance-trained limbs experienced a significantly greater increase in circumference and cross-sectional area in people taking 60 grams of colostrum for eight weeks compared to taking whey protein for the same amount of time. (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2004)

Bovine colostrum supplementation during training significantly increased peak anaerobic power, but had no effect on anaerobic work capacity (Journal of Sports Science, 2003)

In a randomized, double-blind placebo study, 51 active males received 8 weeks of training while consuming either 60 grams per day of bovine colostrum or 60 grams per day of whey protein powder. Vertical jump performance in the colostrum group increased 3.0 cm, but only 1.3 cm in the whey protein group. ( 2000 Pre-Olympic Congress, Sports Medicine and Physical Education, International Congress on Sport Science, Brisbane, Australia)

Bovine colostrum supplementation at 20 grams or 60 grams per day provided an improvement in time trial performance in cyclists after a 2 hour ride at 65% VO2 max. Improvements in performance times were: 37 seconds faster for placebo group, 134 seconds faster for the 20 grams per day colostrum group, and 158 seconds faster for the 60 grams per day colostrum group (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2002)

Bovine colostrum helped make distance cyclists retain more energy following a bout of intensive training. Those cyclists using colostrum performed at a higher level with fewer signs of fatigue during tests taken after their 5 days of intensive training (Journal of Sports Medicine, September, 2006)

Skeletal muscle is able to repair itself through regeneration. However, an injured muscle often does not fully recover its strength because the process is hindered. IGF-1 can improve muscle healing and regenerations (Muscle and Nerve, 2003)

After 8 weeks of colostrum supplementation, elite field hockey players improved significantly in the 5 x 10 meters sprint, compared to the whey fed group (Paper presented at NSCA National Conference and Exhibition, Orlando, 2000)
http://www.naturalnews.com/026618_Colostrum_growth_hormone_RNA.html

One Billion Hungry People: Multiple Causes Of Food Insecurity Considered
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) — In 2009, the population of inadequately nourished people is projected to exceed 1 billion for the first time according to new estimates published by FAO. It is hard to imagine 1 billion people. Consider for example merely counting them: allowing just 1 second for each, counting day and night, it would take more than 30 years.
The most recent increase in hunger recorded by FAO is not the consequence of poor global harvests but is caused by the world economic crisis that has resulted in lower incomes and increased unemployment leading to reduced access to food by the poor. If the new journal Food Security needed an early example to justify its breadth of coverage, the FAO report certainly provides it: originating from the International Society for Plant Pathology in a joint venture with Springer, Food Security is subtitled The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food.
The second issue of Food Security is now published, and is free online. It documents some of the multiple causes of food insecurity. Topics include desertification, flooding, adaptation of remote communities to modern technology, seasonality of food crops and the corresponding dearth between harvests, lack of iron in traditionally consumed food, resulting in anaemia, and taboos that inhibit people from supplementing their diets with nutritious wild fruits that are readily available. One paper also considers the vulnerability of our crops to acts of agroterrorism. Conversely, the amelioration of dietary deficits is treated by several authors. Procedures include the establishment of policies that buffer countries against price swings of food materials on the international market, encouragement of domestic agriculture, a framework for deciding whether aid should be given in cash or in kind and construction of a dryer out of simple materials, which can be used to remove water from produce and consequently dramatically prolong its shelf life.
There is a single review article by Lindsay Stringer in which she explores the relationship between desertification and food security. She shows that both share considerable common ground and argues that this should be recognised in interventions. These, she contends, should be approached from the perspective of livelihoods and vulnerability.
The first original paper by Ian Douglas takes up the theme of the physical environment, but here the concern is flooding rather than desertification. He points out that climate change is likely to cause an increase in the magnitude, depth and duration of floods in South Asia and that there is a gender disparity in those who suffer, women and children faring worse than men.
The next paper by Paul Dorosh is also concerned with South Asia. He points out that the sharp rise in international cereal prices in 2007 and 2008 had a profound impact on the food security of countries in this area but cautions against over-reaction with policies that ultimately slow economic growth and inhibit poverty reduction. Instead, he advocates the accumulation of national stocks to prevent very large price increases, reliance on international trade to limit the need for government interventions in most years, promotion of domestic agriculture and targeted safety net programmes for poor households which, ideally, would be cash based.
The principle of cash distribution versus direct food aid is taken up by Christopher Barrett and co-authors. Building on a previously published decision tree, these authors propose a question and analysis framework to help operational agencies anticipate the likely impact of these alternatives.
Andrew Scourse and Corinne Wilkins give a fascinating account of food security issues on a Pacific atoll. They describe how traditional methods of ensuring adequate food are gradually being eroded by the advent of modern technology and products. These include boats with outboard motors, facilitating movement between islands but incurring a requirement for fuel, modern equipment for fishing and exotic food, which is welcomed, but is dependent on the irregular arrival of government ships.
A staggering 2 billion of the world’s population are anaemic. Emily Levitt and co-authors analysed the diets of communities living in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan as a preliminary to establishing a comprehensive programme for the control of anaemia in the north of the country.
Many countries face conditions in which the season for a given crop is short and they lack equipment to prolong the shelf life of the produce. Antoine Nonclerq and co-authors demonstrate the feasibility of constructing solar powered drying equipment in Mali from locally obtained materials and demonstrate that tomatoes dried in a prototype may be kept for over a year, whereas the harvesting season is only 3 months.
Ethiopia is a country with a relatively rich flora containing many plants that produce edible fruits. Mengistu Fentahun and Herbert Hager show that, although at least some of these are prevalent throughout the year and would do much to enhance the local diet, there is little enthusiasm for their consumption owing to local taboos and customs.
Finally, Frédéric Suffert and co-authors consider the risk to food security posed by the malicious introduction of plant pathogens. Although the development of a serious outbreak of plant disease from such introductions is far from certain, the disruption of trade is likely to be a casualty.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625113857.htm

Fruit And Vegetable Intake In Pregnant Women Reduces Risk Of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2009) — Boston University School of Medicine researchers (BUSM) have observed in a study of pregnant women that consumption of at least seven servings per day of fruits and vegetables moderately reduced the risk of developing an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). The BUSM study appears online in the journal Public Health Nutrition.
URTIs include the common cold and sinus infections, which can lead to lower respiratory problems, such as asthma or pneumonia. Even though the majority of URTIs are uncomplicated colds, identifying ways to prevent their occurrence is important because colds are the most common reason for school and work absences. Eating nutritious foods, especially fruits and vegetables, improves immunity but hadn't previously been associated with reducing the risk of URTIs in pregnant women.
BUSM researchers studied more than 1,000 pregnant women and found those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 26 percent less likely to have URTI relative to those who ate the least amount. Neither fruit nor vegetable intake alone was found to be associated with the five-month risk of URTI. The patterns observed for total fruit and vegetable intake and either fruit or vegetable intake alone in relation to the three-month risk of URTI were consistent with those when assessing the five-month risk of URTI. Women in the highest quartile of fruit and vegetable intake had a stronger reduced three-month risk than the five-month risk of URTI. Moreover, there was a significant decreasing linear trend for the three-month risk of URTI with consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Pregnant women have been recommended to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This study showed that intake of higher levels, 6.71 servings per day, was associated with a moderate risk reduction for URTI.
"Pregnant women may require more fruits and vegetables than usual because of the extra demands on the body," said senior author Martha M. Werler, M.P.H., Sc.D., professor at Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University.
This study was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The Institute had no role in the design and conduct of the study, the collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data, or the preparation, review and approval of the manuscript.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708101308.htm

Chinese Herbs May Relieve Endometriosis Symptoms, Review Finds

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2009) — Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) may relieve symptoms in the treatment of endometriosis. A systematic review by Cochrane Researchers found some evidence that women had comparable benefits following laparoscopic surgery and suffered fewer adverse effects if they were given Chinese herbs compared with conventional drug treatments.
Endometriosis is a gynaecological disorder affecting as many as one in six women of reproductive age. It can cause pelvic pain, irregular and painful periods, and infertility. Surgical treatments do not always lead to long-term improvement in symptoms and drug treatments can have unpleasant side effects such as hot flushes, acne and weight gain.
The researchers conducted the first English language systematic review of CHM for treatment of endometriosis. Two trials, which together focused on a total of 158 women, were included in the review. In one trial, CHM provided symptomatic relief comparable to that provided by the hormonal drug gestrinone, but with fewer side effects. In the other trial, CHM was more effective than the hormonal drug danazol, and also resulted in fewer side effects.
"These findings suggest that Chinese herbs may be just as effective as certain conventional drug treatments for women suffering from endometriosis, but at present we don't have enough evidence to generalize the results," says lead researcher Andrew Flower of the Complementary Medicine Research Unit at the University of Southampton in the UK.
110 studies were originally considered for review but most were of poor methodological quality and had to be excluded. The researchers stress the need for Chinese researchers to adopt more rigorous methods in carrying out trials and reporting them. "Poor quality reporting has the potential to confuse and undermine research in Chinese herbal medicine," says Flower.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707201114.htm

Green tea does not help in all cancer types: Study

TIMES OF INDIA 15 July 2009, 07:50pm IST

LONDON: In a bid to keep cancer at bay, more and more people are turning to green tea. However, a new review of studies on the effect of green tea on cancer prevention has yielded conflicting results. 

Researchers looked at 51 medium-to-high-quality studies, conducted from 1985 through 2008, that covered more than 1.6 million participants. 

The studies focused on the relationship between green tea consumption and a variety of cancers, including of breast, lung, digestive tract, urological prostate, and gynaecological and oral cancers. 

Many of the reviewed studies took place in Asia, where tea drinking is widespread and part of the daily routine for many. 

"Despite the large number of included studies, the jury still seems to be out on the question of whether green tea can in fact prevent the development of various cancer types," said lead study author Katja Boehm. 

Since people drink varying amounts of green tea, and different types of cancers vary in how they grow, it is impossible to state definitively that green tea is "good" for cancer prevention. 

"One thing is certain: green tea consumption can never account for cancer prevention alone," said Boehm. 

The review found that green tea had limited benefits for liver cancer, but found conflicting evidence for other gastrointestinal cancers, such as cancer of the oesophagus, colon or pancreas. 

One study found a decreased risk of prostate cancer for men who consumed higher quantities of green tea or its extracts, said a release of the Oncology Study Group. 

The review did not find any benefit for preventing death from gastric cancer, and found that green tea might even increase the risk of urinary bladder cancer. 

Despite conflicting findings, there was "limited, moderate to strong evidence" of a benefit for lung, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. 

The review appeared in a recent issue of The Cochrane Library. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-Health-Science-Health-Green-tea-does-not-help-in-all-cancer-types-Study/articleshow/4781189.cms

Cars may soon be powered by urine

TIMES OF INDIA   15 July 2009, 07:49pm IST

NEW YORK: Could it be possible to run your car on urine? Well, it may be, if Ohio University scientists are to be believed. 

And their confidence stems from the fact that they have found a novel way to produce hydrogen energy from urine. 

According to Discovery News, the scientists used a nickel-based electrode to make cheap hydrogen from urine. 

When the research team led by professor Gerardine Botte stuck the electrode into a pool of urine, and applied an electrical current, hydrogen gas was released, which was used in fuel cells. 

The prototype is about three inches by three inches, and is capable of generating 500 milliwatts of power. 

The scientists hope to create commercial versions of the technology. 

Botte expects that the fuel-cell urine-powered car could theoretically travel 90 miles per gallon. 

"One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses. Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel," the New York Daily News quoted him as saying. 

The researchers focussed their study on urea, a urine by-product. 

"Urea is a by-product of a lot of cities and farms, but even if you take all the people and all the animals, there's not enough to run the world," said University of Georgia professor John Stickney. 

He added that though applications using urine won't be available to consumers for quite some time, it's definitely worth developing. 

"We are going to have to put together a lot of greener ways to collect energy that don't produce greenhouse gases and don't require us to go to war," he added. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-Health-Science-Science-Cars-may-soon-be-powered-by-urine/articleshow/4781184.cms

Thymus maintained in modified mice
Life Extensions July 13, 2009
In the July 7, 2009 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh report that mice genetically modified to lack a specific enzyme live longer and maintain an intact thymus gland throughout their lives. The thymus gland plays an important role in immune function by producing T cells that fight infection, however, the gland normally shrinks with age in mammals.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine associate professor of pediatrics and immunology Abbe de Vallejo, PhD and colleagues used a mouse model developed by report coauthor Cheryl Conover , PhD of the Mayo Clinic. These animals lack an enzyme known as pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPPA) that controls the availability in the tissues of insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which promotes cell division. Although IGF is necessary for normal growth during youth, it has also been associated with inflammation, cardiovascular disease and the growth of tumors. In “PAPPA-knockout” mice, life span is increased by 30 percent compared with non-modified mice, and the animals develop fewer spontaneous tumors.
In the current research, the deletion of the gene for PAPPA maintained enough IGF to sustain T cell production without consuming precursor cells, which prevented the thymus from atrophying. "These findings give us hope that we may one day have the ability to restore the function of the thymus in old age, or perhaps by intervening at an early age, we may be able to delay or even prevent the degeneration of the thymus in order to maintain our immune defenses throughout life," Dr de Vallejo stated. "Controlling the availability of IGF in the thymus by targeted manipulation of PAPPA could be a way to maintain immune protection throughout life. This study has profound implications for the future study of healthy aging and longevity."
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2009_07.htm#thymus-maintained-in-modified-mice

Scientists at University of Cape Town publish research in hormones

NewsRx.com  07-10-09
"The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency is associated with abnormal levels of calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH). Vitamin D requests at a tertiary hospital in South Africa over 2 years were retrospectively analysed along with calcium and PTH levels," scientists writing in the Journal of Clinical Pathology report (see also Hormones).
"Only when the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) level dropped below 25 nmol/l, was there a significant rise in PTH. A subnormal 25(OH) D level was also not always related to hypocalcaemia, as more than half of patients with their 25(OH) D level below 25 nmol/l had calcium levels in the reference range. However, all patients with calcium levels below 1.8 mmol/l were shown to have vitamin D insufficiency. Hypovitaminosis D may co-exist with a blunted PTH response," wrote D. Haarburger and colleagues, University of Cape Town.
The researchers concluded: "Therefore, assumptions about vitamin D status should not be made based on PTH and calcium values. 25(OH) D measurements should be requested when vitamin D deficiency is clinically suspected, irrespective of biochemical results.."
Haarburger and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Clinical Pathology (Relationship between vitamin D, calcium and parathyroid hormone in Cape Town. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2009;62(6):567-569).
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8504&Section=Vitamins

Fruit And Veg Could Help to Stem Onset of Alzheimer's

The Scotsman  07-10-09
CHEMICALS in fruit and vegetables, as well as tea and red wine, could help to protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease, a conference will hear today.
Flavonoids - chemicals found in plants and food made from plants - have long been studied for their beneficial effects on people's health.
The British Pharmacological Society's summer meeting in Edinburgh will hear that, while more research needs to be done, there is mounting evidence that certain flavonoids might help Alzheimer's patients.
Dr Robert Williams, a biochemist at King's College London, said: "There have been some intriguing epidemiological studies that the consumption of flavonoid-rich vegetables, fruit juices and red wine delays the onset of the disease.
"These reports, while not as powerful as controlled, randomised, clinical trials, have encouraged a number of research groups, including our own, to investigate the biology of flavonoids in more detail."
Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants - compounds capable of protecting body cells from damage - known to benefit the heart and possibly reduce the risk of cancer. But there is a question mark over their influence on the brain. Dr Williams said the lack of research and clinical trial results meant research into flavonoids had suffered from a lack of scientific credibility.
He said there was also scepticism because flavonoids were known antioxidants, yet clinical trials with other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, showed no benefit on symptoms or disease progression in dementia.
However, Dr Williams said an idea was emerging that flavonoids did not act simply as antioxidants, they exerted their biological effects through other mechanisms.
Recent studies have found green tea flavonoids or grape flavonoids could help the brain and improve mental skills. Dr Williams and colleagues have focused on the flavonoid epicatechin, which is abundant in foods, including cocoa.
He said: "We have found that epicatechin protects brain cells from damage, but through a mechanism unrelated to its antioxidant activity, and have shown in laboratory tests that it can also reduce some aspects of Alzheimer's disease pathology.
"This is interesting because epicatechin and its breakdown products are measurable in the bloodstream of humans for a number of hours after ingestion, and it is one of the few flavonoids known to access the brain, suggesting it has the potential to be bioactive in humans."
In Scotland, it is estimated up to 67,000 people have dementia. By 2031, this number is expected to rise as high as 114,000.
The disease's development is linked to beta-amyloid peptide - a substance that is normally produced in the brain, but in Alzheimer's is deposited abnormally as amyloid plaques, leading to dementia.
Dr Williams has shown that flavonoids can protect brain cells against the toxic actions of beta-amyloid.
He said: "Although our findings support the general concept that dietary intake of flavonoid-rich foods or supplements could impact on the development and progression of dementia, they are clearly insufficient to make any sort of nutritional recommendations at this stage.
"The challenge now is to identify the single flavonoid or combination of flavonoids that exert the most positive effects and to define the mechanisms of action and optimal quantity required, before embarking on clinical trials to treat their effectiveness in dementia."
Kirsty Jardine, from charity Alzheimer Scotland, said: "We would advise people to eat a balanced diet, because there is evidence this helps reduce the risks of dementia. We look forward to further research into flavonoids to find out more about the benefits they offer."
'ALLERGY GENE' SUSPECT FOUND
DEFECTS in a particular gene are linked to a higher risk of allergic conditions such as eczema and asthma, researchers said yesterday.
The search for an "allergy gene" has previously proved difficult for researchers.
But studies have pointed to the filaggrin gene as a potential suspect.
Researchers from Edinburgh University analysed 24 studies looking at mutations in this gene and the link to allergic disorders.
They found that the mutations significantly increased the risk of conditions such as eczema, rhinitis and asthma.
The researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, said: "These findings provide strong supporting evidence that, at least in a subset of those with allergic problems, the filaggrin gene defect may be the fundamental predisposing factor not only for the development of eczema but also for the initial sensitisation and progression of allergic disease."
They said more studies were needed to find if the gene could be used to identify those at high risk.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8503&Section=Nutrition

Heavy drinking may boost prostate cancer risk
Last Updated: 2009-07-13 13:24:15 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who drink heavily may be raising their risk of developing prostate cancer, researchers reported Monday.
What's more, their study found, the drug finasteride, which can help lower a man's risk of the disease, appears unable to undo the damage of heavy drinking.
The findings come from a clinical trial of nearly 11,000 men looking at whether finasteride lowered the risk of prostate cancer over seven years. Of the men, 2,219 were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 8,791 remained cancer-free throughout the study.
The researchers found that men who drank heavily -- four or more drinks per day, on at least five days out of the week -- were twice as likely as non-drinkers to develop aggressive prostate tumors.
The risk was seen in both men who received finasteride and those given a placebo.
In addition, when it came to less aggressive, slower-growing prostate tumors, finasteride cut non-drinkers' and moderate drinkers' risk by 43 percent. The drug did nothing, however, for heavier drinkers.
Researchers led by Dr. Zhihong Gong, of the University of California at San Francisco, report the findings in the journal Cancer.
Many of the established risk factors for prostate cancer cannot be controlled, such as older age, African-American race and family history of the disease. Only a handful of suspected risk factors -- including obesity, smoking and a high intake of animal fat -- can be modified, Gong's team notes.
Heavy drinking may need to be added to that short list, the researchers say, though they also point out that more studies should be done to confirm the findings.
For now, they write, "physicians may choose to consider this finding when counseling men on reducing their risk of prostate cancer."
It would also be "prudent," they add, for men on finasteride to limit themselves to no more than two or three drinks per day.
SOURCE: Cancer, online July 13, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/13/eline/links/20090713elin005.html

Americans argue for public healthcare option
Last Updated: 2009-07-13 11:33:11 -0400 (Reuters Health)
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Kathy Cook's health insurance premiums of $740 a month are nearly as costly as her mortgage. William McEachen struggles to help his disabled adult daughter get the care and medicines she needs. Business owner Don Phipps is outraged at rapidly rising insurance premiums for himself and his employees.
Stories of personal struggles to find affordable healthcare spilled out across the country this week in street-corner picketing, petition drives and rallies, as supporters of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul sought to counter what they fear is a weakening in the reform efforts in the U.S. Congress.
Their concern was that the so-called public option -- a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers and possibly be more affordable and accessible -- may not survive in Washington.
"They seem to be backing off on the public option," said David Quinly of Prairie Village, Kansas, who joined a group of about 40 protesters to picket outside the Kansas City office of U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican.
On Thursday alone, more than 150 similar demonstrations were held in communities around the United States, including outside U.S. senators' local offices in Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, according to Justin Ruben, executive director of the MoveOn. org, the progressive political action group that organized the activities.
More grassroots events are planned in the next two weeks, he said, which coincides with expected intense activity on a drafting healthcare overhaul in Congress.
"Our big focus is on making sure senators over the next few weeks ... are hearing from the public on the need for a strong public option," said Ruben.
Obama has made overhaul of the $2.5 trillion healthcare system his major policy goal and is pushing for a plan that would rein in costs and cover most of the roughly 46 million uninsured Americans.
BLUE DOGS
The public option is a key component of Obama's plan, but sharp opposition from the insurance industry and from a group of fiscally conservative House of Representatives Democrats, known as the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, has threatened the viability of that provision.
"It is the most provocative component of reform other than cost ... and it probably won't carry the day," said William Peck, director of the Center for Health Policy at Washington University in St. Louis.
Critics argue a government-run plan could have an unfair advantage over private, for-profit players and could eventually squeeze private companies out of the market.
Forty of the 52-member Blue Dog Democrats sent a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressing reservations about public option, which they said could hurt small hospitals and doctors by not providing adequate payments or forcing them to participate.
One alternative may be picking up steam. Acknowledging the opposition to government-run health insurance plan, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, said this week they are amenable to the creation of a non-government member-owned health cooperative.
But that wasn't sitting well with people like William McEachen, whose 40-year-old disabled daughter has struggled for years to obtain coverage for extensive medical needs.
Holding a sign declaring "I want a public option," on a busy street corner in Overland Park, Kansas, McEachen joined Cook, Phipps and others to give Brownback's office a petition urging the senator to get behind the government-run option.
"What we want is the same kind of plan Senator Brownback and his family enjoy paid for by the U.S. taxpayer," said Phipps, who said his marketing company's insurance premiums have jumped more than 20 percent in the last year alone.
Cook, who said she is struggling to pay for health insurance and save to put a child through college, said a public option that would counter rising premiums and insure access for all was imperative.
"We can't go on like this," she said.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/13/eline/links/20090713elin014.html

Screening not only reason thyroid cancer is rising
Last Updated: 2009-07-13 16:54:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The steady climb in the incidence of thyroid cancer since the early 1980s has been attributed to an increase in screening in recent years and the diagnosis of more small tumors. However, work by investigators at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta suggests that other factors - such as environmental exposures, dietary changes, or genetic causes - may play a larger role.
Dr. Amy Y. Chen and her team used the National Cancer Institute's SEER cancer registry to identify more than 30,000 cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed between 1988 and 2005.
The authors note that, while the rate of thyroid cancer was three times higher among women than among men after age was taken into account, rates increased similarly for both genders.
Specifically, among women, the age-adjusted number of cases per 100,000 rose from 6.4 in 1998 to 14.9 in 2005. Among men, the rate of cancer increased from 2.5 per 100,000 in 1988 to 5.1 per 100,000 in 2005.
When the researchers looked at tumor size, they found that the number of tumors of all sizes was increasing. If more screening was responsible for a higher rate of diagnosis, they explain, they would have expected to only see an increase in the number of small tumors.
Despite the better detection of cancers at earlier stages, they note, survival rates did not improve among men or women, the authors write in their report in the journal Cancer. They conclude by calling for more research into the causes of rising rates.
SOURCE: Cancer, August 15 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/13/eline/links/20090713elin031.html

"Glycemic load" of diet tied to breast cancer risk
Last Updated: 2009-07-10 13:00:32 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The amount of carbohydrates a woman eats, as well as the overall "glycemic load" of her diet, impact her chances of developing breast cancer, Swedish researchers report.
The concept of glycemic load is based on the fact that different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar. White bread and potatoes, for example, have a high glycemic index, which means they tend to cause a rapid surge in blood sugar. Other carbs, such as high-fiber cereals or beans, create a more gradual change and are considered to have a low glycemic index.
Dr. Susanna C. Larsson of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and colleagues analyzed data on 61,433 women who completed "food frequency" questionnaires in the late 1980s.
Over the course of about 17 years, 2952 women developed breast cancer and, according to the investigators, glycemic load "was significantly positively associated with risk of overall breast cancer." Women with higher glycemic load diets were more apt to develop breast cancer.
In addition, carbohydrate intake, glycemic index and glycemic load were all positively associated with risk of a certain type of breast tumor - namely, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/progesterone receptor (PR)-negative breast cancer.
Women with the highest "glycemic index diet" had a 44% increased risk of developing ER+/PR- breast cancer compared to women with the lowest glycemic index diet.
Women in the highest category of "glycemic load" had an 81% increased risk of ER+/PR- tumors, and those with the highest carbohydrate intake had a 34% increased risk, compared to those in the lowest groups.
The investigators speculate that high-glycemic load diets may boost breast cancer risk by increasing concentrations of insulin and sex hormones in the body, which may contribute to the development and spread of breast cancer cells.
The findings support the benefits on breast health of a diet high in healthy "low glycemic index" foods.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, July 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/10/eline/links/20090710elin023.html

Being active may help lift sense of hopelessness
Last Updated: 2009-07-10 13:00:03 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More active men seem to have a rosier outlook on life, new research from Finland shows.
Dr. Maarit Valtonen of Kuopio University Hospital and colleagues found that men who spent less than one hour a week doing moderate to vigorous leisure-time physical activity were 37% more likely to report feeling hopeless than men who logged at least 2.5 hours weekly.
Feeling hopeless has been linked to worse heart health and greater risk of dying, the researchers note, independent of the effects of depression. To investigate whether physical exercise might influence hopelessness -- just as it has been shown to help reduce depression -- the researchers surveyed 2,428 men, 42 to 60 years old, about their mood and physical activity levels and tested their fitness.
The men reporting the highest levels of hopelessness had "more pronounced features" of the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that boosts risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. They were also less active and less physically fit.
The men who got at least 2.5 hours of moderate activity each week were significantly less likely to be hopeless than men who were active for an hour or less weekly, and this association remained even after the researchers adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, smoking, and other relevant factors. Vigorous physical activity had a particularly strong effect.
When the researchers adjusted for depression, the link between hopelessness and activity remained. But while low levels of fitness were also tied to greater likelihood of feeling hopeless, further analysis found depression was the responsible factor.
Many people, including those who aren't depressed or otherwise mentally ill, feel hopeless, the researchers note. The current findings, they say, suggest that "hopelessness and depression are overlapping, but distinct entities."
The findings also suggest that being active can help "ameliorate or protect against feelings of hopelessness" even if a person's fitness levels don't improve.
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online June 25, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/07/10/eline/links/20090710elin024.html

Omega-3 DHA boosts memory for healthy adults, not Alzheimer’s sufferers

Nutraingredients.com, 13-Jul-2009

Daily supplements with the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may improve both memory function and heart health in healthy older adults, according to a new study from Martek.
The results, specific to people with a decline in cognitive function that occurs naturally with age, were presented at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
Almost 500 people took part in the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, six month study, which also recorded improvements in the heart rate of people receiving the DHA supplement. The study was funded by MartekBiosciences.
“In our study, healthy people with memory complaints who took algal DHA capsules for six months had almost double the reduction in errors on a test that measures learning and memory performance versus those who took a placebo,”said Yurko-Mauro, PhD, associate director of clinical research at Martek and lead researcher of the study.
“The benefit is roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone three years younger.”
Cognitive decline occurs naturally as we age, and precedes diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, according to other findings also presented at ICAD 2009 in Vienna, the omega-3 fatty acid supplements did not benefit people already suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists from Oregon Health and Science University, the University of California, San Diego, Boston University, and Martek report that DHA had no general impact on the cognitive health of people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
Implications
“These two studies raise the possibility that [interventions] for Alzheimer's must be given very early in the disease for them to be truly effective,” said William Thies, PhD, chief medical and scientific officer at the Alzheimer's Association.
“For that to happen, we need to get much better at early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's, in order to test therapies at earlier stages of the disease and enable earlier intervention,” he added.
Alzheimer’s data
The Alzheimer’s study involved 402 people with an average age of 76, ‘probable’ Alzheimer’s, dietary DHA intakes of no greater than 200 mg per day, and a Mini-mental state exam score (MMSE) between 14 and 26. The participants were randomly assigned to receive a daily DHA dose of 2 grams per day, or placebo, for 18 months.
Results of the double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, showed no evidence for benefit in the studied population. Blood levels of DHA did increase, however.
"These trial results do not support the routine use of DHA for patients with Alzheimer's," said lead researcher Joseph Quinn, MD.
In a subset of people who carried the "e4" version of the "ApoE" gene, however, the researchers noted a slower rate of decline on the primary test of mental function (the ADAS-cog). ApoE-e4 is known to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's but does not appear to modify the rate of disease progression.
"This is an intriguing exploratory result," said Quinn. "However it must be treated with appropriate caution. The finding requires further study for confirmation."
The golden touch on age-related cognitive decline
The Memory Improvement with DHA Study (MIDAS) involved 485 healthy older people with an average age of 70 and a mild memory complaint. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either 900 mg per day of algal DHA or placebo for 6 months.
Results of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre study showed that participants taking DHA supplements made significantly fewer errors on the Paired Associate Learning (PAL) test compared to when they started the study.
Furthermore, plasma DHA levels doubled during the study in the DHA group, and correlated with the PAL response.
The researchers also noted a significant decrease in heart rate in the DHA group, while blood pressure and weight did not change.
“Six month supplementation with DHA (900mg/d) improves memory function and decreases heart rate in healthy older adults with ARCD. This improvement on the PAL is associated with a shift in the normative distribution to a younger age,”wrote the MIDAS investigators.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Omega-3-DHA-boosts-memory-for-healthy-adults-not-Alzheimer-s-sufferers

Soy sauce may help with salt reduction in foods: Study

Nutraingredients.com, 13-Jul-2009

Adding soy sauce to certain foods may enhance perception of saltiness and enable food manufacturers to cut salt content without affecting taste, according to new research from Japan.
Soy sauce was capable of reducing the salt content of salad dressings, soup, and stir-fried pork by 50, 17, and 29 per cent, respectively, without affecting the overall taste intensity or product pleasantness, according to results published in the Journal of Food Science.
Salt is of course a vital nutrient and is necessary for the body to function, and the World Health Organization recommends that per capita daily salt consumption should not exceed five grams. However, with the average daily salt (NaCl) consumption in the western world estimated to be between 10 and 12 grams, consumers and some governments have imposed pressure on food manufacturers to reduce the salt content in their formulations - 60 to 80 per cent of salt consumption comes from packaged foods rather than salt added at the table.
The new research, led by Stefanie Kremer from Wageningen University’s Centre for Innovative Consumer Studies, suggests “that it is possible to replace NaCl in foods with naturally brewed soy sauce without lowering the overall taste intensity and to reduce the total NaCl content in these foods without decreasing their consumer acceptance”.
The study, which involved scientists from Kikkoman Europe, proposed that soy sauce may work by enhancing the perception of saltiness, the so-called odour-induced saltiness enhancement (OISE).
“[However,] it might be expected that the association between soy sauce odour and saltiness in a population of almost completely nonusers of soy sauce might not be very strong. In that case it will take probably more than 1 or 2 sessions to establish an association between soy sauce odour and saltiness,” wrote Kremer and her co-workers.
Study details
The Wageningen and Kikkoman researchers formulated salad dressing, soup, and stir-fried pork with increasing levels of soy sauce and decreasing levels of salt. Consumers were then recruited to test five samples of each product and rate the pleasantness and other sensory attributes.
“The results showed that it was possible to achieve a NaCl reduction in the tested foods of, respectively, 50 per cent, 17 per cent, and 29 per cent without leading to significant losses in either overall taste intensity or product pleasantness,”wrote the researchers.
“These results suggest that it is possible to replace NaCl in foods with naturally brewed soy sauce without lowering the overall taste intensity and to reduce the total NaCl content in these foods without decreasing their consumer acceptance,”they concluded.
Source: Journal of Food Science
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2009.01232.x
"Salt Reduction in Foods Using Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce"
Authors: S. Kremer, J. Mojet, R. Shimojo
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Soy-sauce-may-help-with-salt-reduction-in-foods-Study

Calorie restriction leads to longer life: Study

Nutraingredients.com, 10-Jul-2009

Restricting the amount of calories we consume, while avoiding malnutrition, may extend lives and reduce the risk of chronic disease, suggest results from a monkey study.
Findings published in Science indicate that 80 per cent of rhesus monkeys who consumed a calorie restricted diet without being malnourished were still alive after 20 years, compared to only 50 per cent of control animals who ate freely.
"We have been able to show that caloric restriction can slow the aging process in a primate species," said study leader Professor Richard Weindruch from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival."
Not surprisingly, longevity and enhanced quality of life is the ultimate aim of most research into diet and nutrition, but very few studies actually achieve such a link. The trick now will be to see if it can be carried over to humans - something the researchers say is highly unlikely due to the extremely restrictive nature of such a diet.
“Our data indicate that adult-onset moderate caloric restriction delays the onset of age-associated pathologies and promotes survival in a primate species,”wrote the researchers.
“Given the obvious parallels between rhesus monkeys and humans, the beneficial effects of caloric restriction may also occur in humans. This prediction is supported by studies of people on long-term caloric restriction, who show fewer signs of cardiovascular aging,” they added.
“The effect of controlled long-term caloric restriction on maximal life span in humans may never be known, but our extended study will eventually provide such data on rhesus monkeys.”
The Wisconsin-based researchers started their study in 1989 with 30 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and subsequently expanded this to 76. The animals were divided into two groups; one was allowed to eat freely (control group), while the other group had their energy intake restricted by 30 per cent.
According to Weindruch and his co-workers, macaques typically live for about 27 years in captivity. All the monkeys were aged between 7 and 14 when introduced into the study, they added.
In addition to increased lifespan in the calorie restriction group, a halving of the incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease was observed in this group, compared to the control animals.
Furthermore, while free eating resulted in diabetes or impaired glucose regulation no animal on the restricted diet developed these conditions. "So far, we've seen the complete prevention of diabetes," said Weindruch.
Brain boosting
Brain health was also better in the animals with restricted calorie diets, said the researchers, particularly the parts of the brain responsible for motor control and executive functions such as working memory and problem solving.
"It seems to preserve the volume of the brain in some regions. It's not a global effect, but the findings are helping us understand if this dietary treatment is having any effect on the loss of neurons," said co-researcher Sterling Johnson.
"The atrophy or loss of brain mass known to occur with aging is significantly attenuated in several regions of the brain. That's a completely new observation,"added Weindruch.
Source: Science10 July 2009, Volume 325, Pages 201-204 "Caloric Restriction Delays Disease Onset and Mortality in Rhesus Monkeys"Authors: R.J. Colman, R.M. Anderson, S.C. Johnson, E.K. Kastman, K.J. Kosmatka, T.M. Beasley, D.B. Allison, C. Cruzen, H.A. Simmons, J.W. Kemnitz, R. Weindruch
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/Calorie-restriction-leads-to-longer-life-Study

Flu Shots Put Children in the Hospital
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  July 14, 2009 

(NaturalNews) At the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society recently held in San Diego, researchers presented a study showing that the flu vaccine – widely touted as a "must have" for children with chronic illnesses – isn't effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially ones with asthma. But here's the most damning evidence that flu shots aren't the safe, helpful vaccine the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC) and other government agencies claim: the researchers also found that children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than their peers who do not get the vaccine.
Scientist Avni Joshi, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told the meeting, "The concerns that vaccination may be associated withasthma exacerbations have been disproved with multiple studies in the past, but the vaccine's effectiveness has not been well-established. This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the TIV (trivalent inactivated flu vaccine in children overall, as well as the children with asthma, to prevent influenza-related hospitalization." 

The children were harmed by influenza vaccines
To see if the vaccine actually reduced the number of hospitalizations for all children, especially those with asthma, over eight consecutive flu seasons, Dr. Joshi and his research team conducted a cohort study of 263 children. All the youngsters had been evaluated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota between the ages of six months to 18 years and each had had laboratory-confirmed flu between 1996 to 2006. The scientists documented which of the children had been vaccinated against the flu, and those that had not received the flu jab. The kids' asthma status was also noted along with records of and who did and did not require hospitalization. 

Then the investigators checked the records for each child research subject to see who had been vaccinated before experiencing a flu-related episode that lead to a hospitalization during that illness. The results showed that youngsters who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to children who had not received the vaccine. For kids with asthma, there was even a higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who received the flu shot. No other measured factors, which included insurance coverage or severity of asthma, was found to impact the risk of hospitalization. 

So does this raise a red flag against vaccinating children, especially those who are asthmatic, against the flu? Incredibly, despite the findings of his own study, Dr. Joshi refused to find fault with the flu shot. "While these findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations," Dr. Joshi said in a statement to the media. "More studies are needed to assess not only the immunogenicity, but also the efficacy of different influenza vaccines in asthmatic subjects."

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) continue to recommend annual influenza vaccination for all children aged six months to 18 years. Moreover, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (3rd revision) pushes annual flu vaccination of asthmatic children older than six months. However, as reported last fall in Natural News (http://www.naturalnews.com/024624.html) there's little evidence flu shots work for youngsters. . A large study reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews of 260,000 children between 23 month and six discovered that the flu vaccine is no more effective that a placebo.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026612_asthma_the_flu_flu_shots.html

The Next Global Pandemic? Drug-Resistant TB
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  July 14, 2009 

(NaturalNews) The World Health Organization has warned that a global pandemic of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) may be imminent, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

"The situation is already alarming, and poised to grow much worse very quickly," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization. "This is a situation set to spiral out of control. Call it what you may: a time bomb or a powder keg. Any way you look at it, this is a potentially explosive situation," Chan warned.

TB is a highly contagious disease of the lungs that infects 9 million people around the world each year, killing 2 million of them. The bacteria that cause the disease thrive in dark, damp places, and can be spread from person to person by a simple cough, sneeze or conversation. An untreated TB patient can infect between 10 and 15 other people with the disease in a single year.

Although TB has been mostly eliminated in wealthy countries and can be treated in poor countries if appropriate antibiotics are available. The increasing prevalence of drug-resistant strains has the disease poised to reemerge as a major global health threat. 

Because TB treatment requires taking large numbers of pills daily for up to 6 months, many people do not complete their treatment, leading to the evolution of drug-resistant varieties.

"Instead of taking two to four pills, one has to take 13 pills. Put yourself in the position of the patient. Thirteen pills are not 13 candies," Chan said.

Multi-drug-resistant TB -- any strain that is resistant to both front-line TB drugs -- is already a major health problem throughout the world, particularly in Bangladesh, China, India, South Africa and Russia. Even more alarming, 54 countries have already reported cases of extensively drug-resistant TB, or a variety that is resistant to all known TB drugs.

Speaking alongside Chan, Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates said that overconfidence in the medical field has contributed to the new TB threat.

"The most commonly used [TB] diagnostic test is today more than 125 years old," he said. "The vaccine was developed more than 80 years ago, and drugs have not changed in 50 years."
http://www.naturalnews.com/026611_drug-resistant_disease_health.html

Fruits and Vegetables Shown to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer and its Recurrence
Barbara Minton, NaturalNews.com  July 14, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables drastically reduces the risk of ever getting breast cancer and of having a recurrence. Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have just released more research findings adding to the growing pile of evidence that selections from the produce section are the best bet for keeping away this dreaded disease.

The association between vegetable and fruit intake and breast cancer risk was evaluated using a hospital-based, case-controlled study. Four hundred and thirty-eight breast cancer cases were matched with an equal number of controls by age and place of residency. Their dietary intake was assessed by face-to-face interviews using a food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistical regression was used to estimate odds ratios.

Total vegetable and fruit intake was found to be inversely associated with breast cancer risk. The odds ratios of the highest quartile relative to the lowest quartile of total vegetable and fruit intake were 0.28 and 0.53 respectively. This means that those eating the lowest amounts had a 47% increased risk of breast cancer. Consumption of individual vegetable and fruit groups such as dark green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, bananas, melons (watermelon, papaya, and cantaloupe) was inversely and significantly related to breast cancer risk. An inverse association was also observed for vitamin A, carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and fiber intake. (International Journal of Cancer, July)

Fruits and vegetables modulate the cell cycle to safeguard health

People were created to eat fruits and vegetables. Several systems in the body depend on constituents from nature's garden for proper functioning. One of these is the cell cycle that regulates the growth and maintenance of all living things. During the cell cycle, chromosomes are duplicated, and one copy of each duplicated chromosome is transferred from the mother cell to the daughter cell. Proper regulation of this cycle is critical for the normal development and maintenance of health in multi-cellular organisms. If the cell cycle is not working as it should, cancer and other degenerative diseases may be the result.

The successful reproduction of new cells depends on two critical processes, the replication of DNA, and mitosis (the nuclear division of the daughter cell from the mother cell). Compounds from fruits and vegetables stand guard over this process and assure successful completion. (Frontiers in Bioscience, January, 2008)

In a world in which more and more genotoxins are constantly bombarding people, a greater intake of fruits and vegetables is necessary to modulate the effects of deregulation at cell cycle checkpoints and keep the cycle running smoothly creating new cells that are healthy. Up to ten servings of fruits and vegetables each day are now recommended by some health gurus.

Fruits and vegetables can reduce breast cancer recurrence by 40 percent

Scientists from the University of California examined the relationship between plasma carotenoid concentration as a biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake and the risk for a new breast cancer event in 1,550 women previously treated for early stage breast cancer. After 5 years of follow-up, those women with the highest plasma carotenoid concentrations had a 40% reduced risk for breast cancer recurrence. (Journal of Clinical Oncology, September, 2005).

Carotenoids are natural fat-soluble pigments found in certain plants. They provide the bright red, orange, yellow, blue and purple colorations found in the vegetable kingdom. Famous members of this family include beta-carotene found in carrots, spinach, kale and cantaloupe; lycopene found in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon, papaya, and apricots; and lutein, found in dark green leafy vegetables and blueberries.

Since carotenoids need lipids to become bioactive in the body, salads full of these colorful vegetables should always be eaten with some type of fat. The liberal use of extra virgin olive oil on a salad is a great way to bring its carotenoids to life. Fruits and nuts is another tasty combination. The healthy fats found in the nuts will bring to life all the carotenoids in the fruits. Snacking on dried fruits and nuts satisfies the sweet tooth while loading up the body with carotenoids. For best digestion, eat the fruits first and then the nuts rather than eating them together.

Fruits and vegetables with the highest anti-cancer activity

Almost all fruits and vegetables have anti-cancer activity. The superstars of the research labs are garlic and onions, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts and greens), unbelliferous vegetables (carrots, celery, cilantro, parsley and parsnips), tomatoes, peppers, flax seeds, citrus, and soy. However, soy should never be eaten unless it is fermented in the traditional oriental manner and eaten as a small part of a mineral and protein rich meal.

Spirulina and chlorella are heavily pigmented microalgae. They are a nutrient rich vegetable food source rich in beta carotene and many other carotenoids, each with power to keep away breast cancer. They contain fatty acids to speed these carotenoids to work in the body.

Compounds from fruits and vegetables that have shown to help regulate the cell cycle include diindolymethane (DIM) from broccoli, apigenin from celery and parsley, curcumin from turmeric, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea, resveratrol from red grapes and peanuts, genistein from soybeans, and silymarin from milk thistle. These are widely available as supplements.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026607_vegetables_cancer_fruits.html

Nutrients Put Kids with Crohn’s Disease Into Remission Without Drugs
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  July 13, 2009 

(NaturalNews) It's horrible enough for anyone to have Crohn's disease -- a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect any area of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus, causing excruciating pain, bleeding, weight loss and diarrhea. However, it is even more worrisome when a child suffers from the disease because it can cause a delay in normal development and stunted growth. What's more, the standard treatment of high dose steroid-based drugs can cause serious side effects such as malnutrition and growth retardation. 

But now there's hopeful news for kids afflicted with Crohn's. Research just published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition has found that a "cocktail" of nutrition can put the majority of these youngsters into remission without drugs.

Dr. Raanan Shamir of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and Schneider Children's Medical Center said in a statement to the media that his study was inspired by the horrendous problems children experience battling Crohn's disease, including the drug side effects they are forced to endure from steroids and other biological agents. He turned to a drink loaded with nutrients that was first developed by NASA for astronauts to see if the concentrated nutrition might help.

When given to youngsters suffering from Crohn's disease, the supplement put a remarkable 60 to 70 percent of them into remission as long as they continued the nutrition therapy for six to eight weeks. This success rate is about the same as the steroid-based drugs usually prescribed for kids but the nutrition "cocktail" carries none of the drug side effects that cause malnutrition and growth retardation.

Dr. Shamir said that he and his research team do not understand yet exactly how the nutrition formula conquers Crohn's symptoms. But the important thing is that it does work. "People have to be committed and eat nothing else during the period of time they are on nutrition therapy, and it is difficult to do -- but if they do it, they go into remission," Dr. Shamir explained in the press statement.

In fact, the Tel Aviv University researchers found that youngsters with Crohn's stayed in remission if they continued to use nutrition therapy for 25 to 50 percent of their of their caloric intake, sometimes for years. To make sure children continue to take their nutrient drink as long as needed, Dr. Shamir pointed out that physicians, dieticians, psychologists, and parents have to get behind the treatment. 

Unfortunately, that's not always easy. Dr. Shamir stated that his mission to educate the international medical community about the benefits of nutrition therapy for Crohn's disease has been an uphill battle. "The acceptance of this is difficult," he said in the media statement. "You have to persuade the family. Not all physicians know it works, and it's much easier to give someone a prescription than try to work with the child."

He added that the importance of the new study is that it will provide evidence to the international medical community that nutrition is equal to steroids in the treatment of children with Crohn's. "We published the most recent meta-analysis to show that nutrition is as good as steroids as a first-line therapy for Crohn's disease," he stated, adding that the next step in his research is to "define exactly the role of nutrition in inducing remission in these patients, and the role of nutrition in maintaining remission."

According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, mainstream medicine has no explanation for what causes Crohn's disease. The most often cited theory suggests an out-of-control immune system reacts abnormally in people with Crohn's, mistaking bacteria, foods, and other substances for foreign invaders. Then the immune system launches an attack, producing chronic inflammation which leads to ulcerations and bowel injury. As reported previously in Natural News, however, milk products have long been suspected by natural health practitioners as a culprit in Crohn's disease (http://www.naturalnews.com/002684.html) and research has shown a link between bacteria found in dairy products and the disease (http://www.naturalnews.com/022673.html).
http://www.naturalnews.com/026604_disease_nutrition_Crohns_disease.html

Tonsillectomy Linked to Weight Gain in Kids
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  July 13, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Children who have their tonsil surgically removed early in life are significantly more likely to become overweight or obese by age eight, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, and published in the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers measured the height and weight of 3,963 eight-year olds who were participating in the Dutch Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy (PIAMA) birth cohort study. Every year up to age eight, the children's parents had filled out detailed questionnaires supplying information about height, weight, surgical procedures and a number of other factors.

Analysis of the data showed that children whose tonsils had been removed (tonsillectomy) were 61 percent more likely to be overweight at age eight than children whose tonsils had not been removed, and 131 percent more likely to be obese. This statistic remained the same whether or not the adenoid glands were also removed (adenoidectomy), and after adjusting for possible complicating factors such as sex, birth weight, breast-feeding,smoking in the home, and maternal education, weight or smoking during pregnancy. 

Adenoidectomy without tonsillectomy did not increase the risk of being overweight, but did increase the risk of obesity by 94 percent.

Rates of tonsillectomy have decreased significantly since the 1950s, but the procedure remains one of the most common surgeries in children in the United States. Tonsillectomy is usually prescribed to alleviate snoring, sleep apnea and other conditions related to upper respiratory blockage. Adenoidectomy is also common, normally prescribed to alleviate restricted nose breathing or chronic ear infections.

In order to be certain that tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy were causing obesity and not the other way around, the researchers looked at obesity rates at age two, finding no correlation with later removal of tonsils or adenoids.

The researchers suspect that removal of the tonsils or adenoids may cause a reversal of previously slowed growth, leading to excessive weight gain. 
http://www.naturalnews.com/026601_tonsillectomy_weight_gain_tonsils.html

Two Natural Oils Induce Weight Loss, Lower Body Fat
Sherry Baker, NaturalNews.com  July 11, 2009 

(NaturalNews) New research has some good news for women battling extra pounds. The study, conducted by Ohio State University scientists, found that two natural dietary oil supplements can spark healthy weight loss and lower body fat -- and the oils even worked in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

So what are these fat-zapping oils? They are simply safflower oil and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a compound naturally found in some meat and dairy products, that has been associated with weight loss in previous studies. Both oils are "good fats" composed primarily of polyunsaturated fatty acids. They are rich sources of linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that is important for the growth and maintenance of tissues and fat metabolism.

The new study, which is set for publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 35 women who were considered obese based on body mass index (BMI) measurements of their weight relative to height. All were postmenopausal but younger than 70 and all had type 2 diabetes, although none needed insulin for treatment.

The women were randomly divided into two groups to determine which oil supplement they took first -- this strategy was used because the researchers wanted to see if there were different effects from different dietary oils in the same woman. So, after a 16 week supplementation with one of the oils, there was a four week washout period to allow the first oil supplement to leave the women's bodies before the next 16 week testing period with the other oil began. The oil supplements were taken as two pills four times each day, at meals and bedtime. The daily dose of either oil was about one and 2/3 teaspoons.

The research volunteers kept diet and activity records for three days in a row at four different times over the course of the study to see if their calorie intake or how much time they spent exercising was influencing the results of the trial. However, the investigators found that activity levels and calorie intake stayed about the same throughout the study.

Despite the fact there was no dieting or exercising, the study found that CLA supplementation significantly decreased the women's BMI and total body fat. Usually these effects became evident in the last eight weeks of each 16 week period. On average their total body fat decreased by 3.2 percent, reducing the weight of excess fat tissue between 2.3 pounds and 3.5 pounds.

While the safflower oil didn't change total body fat readings, in some ways this all vegetable "good fat" was the biggest star of the research. It reduced the weight of trunk fat tissue by between 2.6 pounds and 4.2 pounds -- an average of more than six percent. What's more, safflower oil increased lean tissue, or muscle, by about two to three pounds.

To add to the good news, safflower oil was found to reduce fasting blood sugar levels in these diabetic women between 11 and 19 points. "Lowering fasting glucose is important for these women. The overall effect in just 16 weeks wasn't bringing them back to normal, but safflower oil still improved it significantly," Martha Belury, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and senior author of the study, said in a statement to the media.

The researchers found that ingesting safflower oil increased a hormone called adiponectin. In the press statement, Dr. Belury said adiponectin might have triggered the body's ability to burn dietary fats. She plans to study this mechanism in upcoming research.

According to Dr. Belury, after menopause women are apt to lose muscle while, at the same time, body fat accumulates around their middles. Now it appears dietary oils can help fight this "spare tire", even in women who have diabetes.

"I never would have imagined such a finding. This study is the first to show that such a modest amount of a linoleic acid-rich oil may have a profound effect on body composition in women," Dr. Belury stated. "Making this subtle change in the intake of high-quality dietary fats in an effort to alter body composition is both achievable and affordable to postmenopausal women in the United States who are managing the difficult combination of obesity and diabetes."
http://www.naturalnews.com/026599_body_fat_weight_loss_health.html

New Evidence: Exercise Helps Heart Disease, Increases Survival Better than Angioplasty
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  July 11, 2009 

(NaturalNews) At the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation meeting recently held in Barcelona, Spain, new heart research was presented that shows one treatment in particular can provide remarkable help for patients with certain forms of serious heart disease. It's not a new drug or surgical procedure. Instead, it's a natural therapy -- plain old-fashioned regular exercise. 

In fact, in several studies just presented at the meeting, exercise reduced the markers of heart disease in patients following coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). What's more, it improved indications of disease in people with heart failure, a condition usually thought to be incurable and often just treated with symptom-relieving drugs. But the news that's perhaps most likely to make some interventional cardiologists' hearts skip a beat or two was the evidence presented that showed that exercise improved cardiac event-free survival in coronary patients better than angioplasty with stents.

Also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), angioplasty is commonly used to help people with coronary artery disease whose arteries are narrowed and even blocked by a build-up of sticky plaque. By threading a thin tube through a blood vessel in the arm or groin, interventionalcardiologists perform angioplasty to restore blood flood through a clogged artery. A tiny balloon at the end of the tube is inflated when it reaches the exact spot of blockage. That pushes the plaque outward against the walls of the artery, restoring blood flow. A small metal device called a stent is also carried by the tube and deployed at the site of the blockage in order to prop open the artery. 

This approach to treating heart disease is a huge business. A report in Bloomberg News last fall noted that about 800,000 angioplasties are performed each year in the U.S. at a cost of about $10 billion annually. And, although many cardiologists consider angioplasty to be the "gold standard" of care in most types of acute coronary events such as heart attack, the procedure's long term benefits have been questioned by many doctors. In addition, the role of angioplasty in treating other kinds of coronary disease, like angina, isn't clear. 

To help shed light on this issue, researchers at the University of Leipzig in Germany conducted a study to compare the event-free survival rate in 101 stable angina patients. Research subjects with the condition were divided randomly into two groups. Each group was treated with either a regular exercise program or with angioplasty.

The results, just presented at the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation meeting, showed that after five years of follow-up, the study participants who went through exercise training had a better event-free survival rate than those treated with stent angioplasty. In the exercise group, 63 percent of patients had survived, free of cardiac events. However, only 40 percent in the angioplasty group had survived without cardiac problems (which included heart attack, stroke and death). 

Two other studies released at the Barcelona conference also back up the idea that exercise can often help even patients with very serious heart problems. Research by Dr. Tomasz Mikulski and colleagues from the Medical Research Centre in Warsaw, Poland, showed that aerobic training using an exercise bike not only improved the physical fitness of cardiac patients following bypass surgery, but also reduced their cholesterol levels and markers of inflammation (which are associated with heart disease). 

Dr. Marcus Sandri from the University of Leipzig presented data showing that a moderate exercise program daily for four weeks improved the function of endothelial cells in patients with heart failure. This is important because endothelial cells, which line the circulatory system, are associated with the progression of heart disease and heart failure when they don't function properly.

No improvement was noted in the control group of heart failure patients who did not exercise. Dr Sandri noted in a statement to the media that the beneficial effect of exercise was seen as much in older subjects as in younger. "The effects of exercise were not diminished in our older heart failure patients which suggests that exercise as a treatment might be just as effective in older patients as younger," he explained.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026596_disease_heart_disease_angioplasty.html

Did JAMA Editors Threaten a Big Pharma Whistleblower?
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  July 11, 2009 

(NaturalNews) The American Medical Association (AMA) has launched an investigation into allegations that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) used threats in an attempt to silence a professor who drew attention to a journal author's failure to disclose a conflict of interest.

"As owner and publisher of JAMA, we take these concerns very seriously," said Joseph Heyman, chairman of the board of the AMA. 

Although JAMA is the official journal of the AMA, it operates independently of the association.

The controversy concerns an article initially published in JAMA in May 2008, reporting on a study into whether the antidepressant Lexapro was effective in patients who had suffered from strokes. Lincoln Memorial University professor Jonathan Leo contacted JAMA's editors in October to inform them that study author Robert Robinson had served on a speaker's bureau for Lexapro maker Forest Laboratories. Leo also sent a copy of the letter to a reporter at the New York Times.

Although JAMA has a policy of disclosing conflicts of interest, this industry connection had not been mentioned in the article. 

JAMA's editors responded that they would investigate the situation. According to a Wall Street Journal report, however, the editors then attempted to intimidate Leo out of speaking further with reporters. The editors allegedly threatened Leo that if he did not stop talking to the press, they would ban him from the journal and ruin the reputation of his medical school.

On March 5, still waiting for a response from JAMA, Leo published his allegations in the British Medical Journal. On March 11, JAMA published a correction disclosing Robinson's ties to Forest. On March 20, it issued new guidelines for dealing with third-party conflict-of-interest disclosure.

"The person bringing the allegation will be specifically informed that he/she should not reveal this information to third parties or the media while the investigation is under way," the policy reads.

In an editorial, the Washington Post challenged JAMA's assertion that the policy is intended to prevent the reputations of researchers and companies involved.

"Muzzling whistleblowers might help JAMA control its image," the paper's editors wrote, "but it's a disservice to the public."
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026589_JAMA_Big_Pharma_the_AMA.html

The rise and rise of the vegetarian
Sausage, bacon and roast dinners, staples of the British diet, are on the wane as 'flexitarians' forgo meat
The Independent UK, Sunday, 12 July 2009
Forget lentils and tofu. Vegetarian cooking is enjoying a makeover, prompting meat-eaters to put down their steak knives. New green cuisine is tapping into the rise of the "flexitarian", the occasional vegetarian who is helping their waistline and the planet by eating less meat.
A new crop of vegetarian restaurants is springing up, catering to rising demand for meat-free dining options. Even established restaurateurs, such as Aldo Zilli, are jumping on the bandwagon: Zilli is considering axing meat from one of his London eateries to cash in on the new trend. He is even mulling rechristening one of them Zilli Green. And other chefs, including Oliver Peyton, are increasing the number of meat-free choices on their existing menus.
From Sir Paul McCartney, who wants us all to eschew meat on Mondays, to Lydia Guevara – granddaughter of the revolutionary Che – who is starring in a new anti-meat campaign for Peta, there is no shortage of high-profile figures banging the vegetarian drum. This is boosting sales of meat-free foods in supermarkets as shoppers swap minced meat for substitutes such as Quorn. The meat-free market was worth £739m last year, up by a fifth in the last five years and is forecast to enjoy similar growth until at least 2013, according to research by Mintel.
Vegetarian food is no longer the crunchy preserve of a small minority but is hitting the mainstream. A recent poll for the Food Development Association showed that 86 per cent of Brits eat non-meat meals once or twice a week, forcing restaurants to follow suit.
"Historically, chefs haven't liked vegetarians but that is changing. Younger chefs particularly understand the need for vegetarian food," said Peyton, who owns several restaurants in London. "So many more people want vegetarian food these days and it's my job to cater for them." His restaurants, which include Inn the Park, in St James's Park, now offer up to three meat-free alternatives per course, he said. He is one of a band of chefs, including the IoS'sSkye Gyngell, who is backing Sir Paul's "Meat Free Monday" drive, which wants people to cut out meat to help slow climate change since livestock production pumps more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere than transportation.
Andrew Dargue, who owns Vanilla Black, a vegetarian restaurant that relocated to London from York last year, said that his customers are increasingly meat-eaters looking for something different. "People can have a block on vegetarian food and say they don't like it but they don't stop to think that even tomato soup or scrambled eggs on toast is vegetarian," he said. His food, dubbed "haute vegetarian" by the critics, is certainly finding favour: Vanilla Black even gets a mention in the Michelin Guide.
Other newly opened meat-free restaurants in London include two branches of the Swiss chain Tibits and the vegan diner Saf, which also has outposts in Turkey and Germany. They join the capital's vegetarian stalwarts such as Manna in Primrose Hill and Soho's Mildred's. Outside London, Heather Mills opened a vegan cafe in Brighton, V-Bites, earlier this month.
Richard Harden, who owns the Harden's restaurant guide, said specialist vegetarian eateries are "growing in popularity". He said more people, himself included, were happy to forgo meat for at least one meal. Ben McCormack, editor of the Square Meal guide, said: "Vegetarians are better served than they used to be. With the rise of the 'flexitarian', restaurants are improving their vegetarian offerings."
The doyen of crossover cooking is the French triple Michelin-starred chef Alain Passard, who took meat off the menu at his vaunted Parisian restaurant L'Arpège at the height of the BSE scare in 2001.He has since reverted to serving steaks but he remains the acknowledged father of the new green cuisine. British chefs who cater well for non-meat-eaters include Simon Rimmer, who owns Greens, near Manchester, and Yotam Ottolenghi, who writes a weekly vegetarian cooking column.
Top vegetarian chef: Simon Rimmer
TV chef Simon Rimmer calls himself an 'Accidental Vegetarian' in one of his cookbooks, but that doesn't lessen his impact on the new green cuisine scene. His Greens restaurant, near Manchester, has done much to fly the vegetarian flag outside London.
Top vegetarian cookbook: Café Paradiso Seasons
Silence any vegetarian doubters out there with a meal whipped up from Irish chef Denis Cotter's Café Paradiso Seasons, a gem of a cookbook that will have even meat-eaters salivating. A guaranteed nut-roast-free zone.
Top non-vegetarian restaurant for veggies: Morgan M
It may sound contradictory, but Morgan M, in north London, is a French restaurant that is as admired for its vegetarian cooking as for its meat and fish dishes. Chef Morgan Meunier first offered a seven-course 'garden menu' in 2003 and hasn't looked back since.
Top vegetarian restaurant: Vanilla Black
Vegetarian restaurants and Michelin guides may sound like unlikely bedfellows but Vanilla Black, one of London's newcomers to the non-meat scene, scores itself a mention for the quality of its cooking, which owner Andrew Dargue hopes appeals as much to carnivores as their more discriminating friends.
Top meat-free ingredient: Mushroom ketchup
The humble mushroom is no Quorn, the fungus-based meat substitute, but it is the vegetarian chef's secret ingredient when it comes to whisking up something satisfying that didn't used to fly, run or swim. Add a few drops of mushroom ketchup to just about anything you're cooking to see what we mean.
'We wanted to help the planet, so we had to go veggie'
Debbie Howard, 44, persuaded her partner, Ryan Morley, 35, that it would be a good idea for their family – her children, Jasmine and Sonny, and his daughter, Ella – to become vegetarian:
'I was a vegetarian for 10 years until I got pregnant and suddenly had cravings for meat. I struggled for a couple for years after that, so we did eat a bit of meat for a while. When the twins were old enough, I explained to them that meat is a dead animal, and they've never wanted to touch it since. But I found it hard to keep off meat, much to their complete disapproval. When they were five, I ordered meat at a restaurant and they both got up to sit at another table. I had to change my order! Nowadays though, we're all committed veggies.
For me, not eating meat is mainly about animal cruelty. But for Ryan it was because of environmental issues such as intensive farming and greenhouse gas emissions. It's hard because he really loves meat. But we couldn't keep talking about wanting to help the planet, while destroying it by eating in a way that is badly harming it.'
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-vegetarian-1742752.html

India prays for rain as water wars break out
The monsoon is late, the wells are running dry and in the teeming city of Bhopal, water supply is now a deadly issue.
Gethin Chamberlain , The Observer, July 12, 2009

It was a little after 8pm when the water started flowing through the pipe running beneath the dirt streets of Bhopal's Sanjay Nagar slum. After days without a drop of water, the Malviya family were the first to reach the hole they had drilled in the pipe, filling what containers they had as quickly as they could. Within minutes, three of them were dead, hacked to death by angry neighbours who accused them of stealing water.
In Bhopal, and across much of northern India, a late monsoon and the driest June for 83 years are exacerbating the effects of a widespread drought and setting neighbour against neighbour in a desperate fight for survival.
India's vast farming economy is on the verge of crisis. The lack of rain has hit northern areas most, but even in Mumbai, which has experienced heavy rainfall and flooding, authorities were forced to cut the water supply by 30% last week as levels in the lakes serving the city ran perilously low.
Across the country, from Gujarat to Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh, the state that claims to be "the rice bowl of India", special prayers have been held for more rain after cumulative monsoon season figures fell 43% below average.
On Friday, India's agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, said the country was facing a drought-like situation that was a "matter for concern", with serious problems developing in states such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
In Bhopal, which bills itself as the City of Lakes, patience is already at breaking point. The largest lake, the 1,000-year-old, man-made Upper Lake, had reduced in size from 38 sq km to 5 sq km by the start of last week.
The population of 1.8 million has been rationed to 30 minutes of water supply every other day since October. That became one day in three as the monsoon failed to materialise. In nearby Indore the ration is half an hour's supply every seven days.
The UN has warned for many years that water shortages will become one of the most pressing problems on the planet over the coming decades, with one report estimating that four billion people will be affected by 2050. What is happening in India, which has too many people in places where there is not enough water, is a foretaste of what is to come.
In Bhopal, where 100,000 people rely solely on the water tankers that shuttle across the city, fights break out regularly. In the Pushpa Nagar slum, the arrival of the first tanker for two days prompted a frantic scramble, with men jostling women and children in their determination to get to the precious liquid first.
Young men scrambled on to the back of the tanker, jamming green plastic pipes through the hole on the top, passing them down to their wives or mothers waiting on the ground to siphon the water off into whatever they had managed to find: old cooking oil containers were popular, but even paint pots were pressed into service. A few children crawled beneath the tanker in the hope of catching the spillage.
In the Durga Dham slum, where the tanker stops about 100 metres away from a giant water tower built to provide a supply for a more upmarket area nearby, Chand Miya, the local committee chairman, watched a similar scene. There was not enough water to go around, he said. "In the last six years it has been raining much less. The population has increased, but the water supply is the same."
Every family needed 100 litres a day for drinking, cooking and washing, he said, and people had no idea when the tanker would come again.
Not everyone gets a tanker delivery. The city has 380 registered slums, but there are numerous other shanties where people have to find their own methods. Some, like the Malviyas, tap into the main supply. Others cluster around the ventilation valves for the main pipelines that stick up out of the ground from place to place, trying to catch the small amounts of water leaking out. In the Balveer Nagar slum, 250 families have no supply at all. The women get up in the middle of the night to walk 2km to the nearest pumping station, where someone has removed a couple of bricks from the base to allow a steady flow of water to pour out.
A few communities have received help from non-governmental organisations. In the Arjun Nagar slum, a borewell has been drilled down 115 metres by Water Aid to provide water for 100 families, each paying 40 rupees (50p) a month.
Until the well was drilled, Shaheen Anjum, a mother of four, got up at 2.30am each day to fetch water, wheeling a bike with five or six containers strapped to it to the nearest public pipe in the hope of beating the queues. "Often we would get there and the water would not be running," she said. "It was so tiring: the children were suffering and getting ill because they had to come too. The tankers used to come, but there were so many fights that the driver used to run away."
Water Aid is working in 17 of the city's 380 registered slums, providing water and sanitation. "It's not just Bhopal. This has been a drought year for many districts," said Suresh Chandra Jaiswal, the technical officer. "Now it has reached a critical stage. We just don't know any more how long the water will last."
Fifty years ago, Bhopal had a population of 100,000; today it is 1.8 million and rising. In a good year the city might get more than a metre of rain between July and September, but last year the figure was only 700mm.
Neighbours of the Malviyas cluster around the hole in the street outside the house where Jeevan Malviya lived with his wife, Gyarasi, their son, Raju, 18, and their four other children. It was the evening of 13 May, said Sunita Bai, a female relative: a local man, Dinu, thought that the family had blocked the pipe to stop the water flowing further down the hill.
He and a group of friends slapped Gyarasi, 35; Raju tried to stop him. Someone produced a sword and, a few minutes later, the Malviyas lay dying. "We were too afraid to do anything," said a woman who gave her name as Shanno. "Dinu didn't want them to take any water. He wanted it for himself."
Everyone stood around, looking down at the hole in the ground. The pipe is dry. "It is a terrible thing, that people should be fighting over water," said Shanno.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/12/india-water-supply-bhopal

A High-Fat Diet can Increase Your Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

Ingela Johansson, NaturalNews.com  July 13, 2009 

(NaturalNews) A fresh report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that a diet rich in fat from red meat and dairy can increase your risk of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is on the fourth place of deaths caused by cancer in the U.S. and some of the known connections to developing it are obesity, diabetes and smoking. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 45,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009 and out of those, around 35,000 will not survive.

At the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, scientists analyzed over 500,000 medical records of the participants in the National Institute of Health-AARP Diet and Health study. The volunteers, which were 50-71 years of age, answered a 124-item questionnaire on food habits from 1995 to 1996 and were followed up by health checkups for about six years. The results were calculated with energy intake, smoking history, body mass index, and diabetes taken in consideration.

1,337 men and women developed pancreatic cancer during the study. According to the results, a diet with high amounts of total fats gave a 53 % higher risk of pancreatic cancer among men and 23 % higher risk among women, compared to men and women who had the lowest-fat diets. The risk for both men and women who had a high intake of saturated fats from animal sources was increased by 36 %, compared to those with low intakes.

"We observed positive associations between pancreatic cancer and intakes of total, saturated, and monounsaturated fat overall, particularly from red meat and dairy food sources. We did not observe any consistent association with polyunsaturated or fat from plant food sources," the authors of the study write. "Altogether, these results suggest a role for animal fat in pancreatic carcinogenesis."

Earlier research on the correlation between dietary fat from animals and pancreatic cancer has given inconclusive results, but with this study there is new proof.

According to HealthNews, the strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society, Eric J. Jacobs said that the study "provides important evidence that a diet high in animal fat may increase risk of one of the leading causes of cancer death." And, "While further confirmatory research about animal fat and pancreatic cancer is still needed, results of this study support the American Cancer Society's recommendations to limit red meat and emphasize plant foods to help reduce risk of a variety of cancers."
http://www.naturalnews.com/026608_cancer_health_pancreatic_cancer.html

How to Detox Fluorides from Your Body
Paul Fassa, NaturalNews.com  July 12, 2009 

(NaturalNews) You can rid you body of most fluorides with some easy natural remedies. Fluorides have been linked to a variety of severe chronic, even acute health issues. First a quick review summary of fluoride.

Fluoride Toxicity

Fluoride is a soluble salt, not a heavy metal. There are two basic types of fluoride. Calcium fluoride appears naturally in underground water sources and even seawater. Enough of it can cause skeletal or dental fluorosis, which weakens bone and dental matter. But it is not nearly as toxic, nor does it negatively affect so many other health issues as sodium fluoride, which is added to many water supplies.

Sodium Fluoride is a synthetic waste product of the nuclear, aluminum, and phosphate fertilizer industries. This fluoride has an amazing capacity to combine and increase the potency of other toxic materials. The sodium fluoride obtained from industrial waste and added to water supplies is also already contaminated with lead, aluminum, and cadmium.

It damages the liver and kidneys, weakens the immune system, possibly leading to cancer, creates symptoms that mimic fibromyalgia, and performs as a Trojan Horse to carry aluminum across the blood brain barrier. The latter is recognized as a source of the notorious "dumbing down" with lower IQ's and Alzheimer's effects of fluoride.

Another not commonly known organ victim of fluorosis is the pineal gland, located in the middle of the brain. The pineal gland can become calcified from fluorides, inhibiting it's function as a melatonin producer. Melatonin is needed for sound, deep sleep, and the lack of it also contributes to thyroid problems that affect the entire endocrine system. The pineal gland is also considered the physical link to the upper chakras or third eye for spiritual and intuitive openings.

Various permutations of Sodium Fluoride are also in many insecticides for homes and pesticides for crops. Sometimes it is even added to baby foods and bottled waters. If you live in a water fluoridated area, purchase commercially grown fruits, especially grapes, and vegetables that are chemically sprayed and grown areas irrigated by fluoridated water, you are getting a triple whammy! Better skip that fluoridated toothpaste!

Avoiding Fluoride Contamination

As always, the first step in detoxifying is to curb taking in toxins. Purifying water by reverse osmosis or distillation in fluoridated water communities is a good start to slowing down your fluoride contamination. Distillation comes with a bit of controversy, as all the minerals are removed. A great mineral supplement such as Fulvic Acid (not folic acid) or unsulfured blackstrap molasses is recommended if you distill your water.

Avoiding sprayed, commercially grown foods while consuming organic or locally grown foods is another big step. Watch out for processed foods such as instant tea, grape juice products, and soy milk for babies. They all contain high concentrations of sodium fluoride. So do many pharmaceutical "medicines". By minimizing your sodium fluoride intake, your body can begin eliminating the fluorides in your system slowly.

Magnesium is a very important mineral that many are lacking. Besides being so important in the metabolism and synthesis of nutrients within your cells, it also inhibits the absorption of fluoride into your cells! Along with magnesium, calcium seems to help attract the fluorides away from your bones and teeth, allowing your body to eliminate those toxins. So during any detox efforts with fluoride, it is essential that you include a healthy supplemental dose of absorbable calcium/magnesium as part of the protocol.

So Now Let's Speed Up the Fluoride Detox

This author received a comment stating that an earlier article's source reference to sunlight for decalcifying the pineal gland was inaccurate. He said that darkness, not light, is needed to stimulate the pineal gland into melatonin production, which should lead to breaking up the calcification of that gland. Besides being logical, further source research indicates the critic is correct!

Day time exercise, a healthful diet, not over eating, and meditation all contribute to higher melatonin production from the pineal gland. Though very helpful to many for getting a full night's deep sleep, it appears inconclusive whether melatonin supplements will help decalcify the pineal gland. But it does seem logical that it might.

Iodine supplementation has been clinically demonstrated to increase the urine irrigation of sodium fluoride from the body as calcium fluoride. The calcium is robbed from your body, so make sure you are taking effective calcium and magnesium supplements. Lecithin is recommended as an adjunct to using iodine for excreting fluorides.

Iodine is another nutrient lacking in most diets and causing hypothyroid symptoms of lethargy or metabolic imbalances. Eating lots of seafood for iodine has it's constantly rising mercury hazards. Seaweed foods and iodine supplements that combine iodine and potassium iodide are highly recommended over sea food by most.

Tamarind, originally indigenous to Africa but migrated into India and southeast Asia, has been used medicinally in Ayurvedic Medicine. The pulp, bark, and leaves from the tree can be converted to teas and strong tinctures, which have also shown the ability to eliminate fluorides through the urine.

Liver Cleanses are considered effective for eliminating fluorides and other toxins. There are two types of liver cleansing, both of which can be performed easily at home over a week or two of time. One of the protocols focuses on the liver itself , and the other cleanses the gall bladder, which is directly connected with liver functions. Simple instructions for both can be found on line with search engine inquiries.

Boron was studied in other parts of the world with pronounced success for fluoride detoxification. Borox, which contains boron, has a history of anecdotal success for detoxifying sodium fluoride. Yes, this is the borox you can find in the laundry aisles of some supermarkets. It needs to be taken in with pure water in small quantities.

As little as 1/32 of a teaspoon to 1/4 of a teaspoon in one liter of water consumed in small quantities throughout the day is what has been demonstrated as safe and effective. Around 1/8 of a teaspoon with a pinch of pure sea salt in a liter consumed in small quantities daily has been reported to have dramatic results. There is the possibility of a food grade version with sodium borate, if you can find it.

Dry Saunas combined with exercise releases sodium fluoride stored in fatty tissues. It can be intense enough to cause side effects or an occasional healing crisis. So keep the pure water intake high and drink some chickweed tea to protect the kidneys while using a highly absorbable cal/mag supplement. Lecithin is another useful adjunct to this protocol for fluoride detoxification.

Those Adjuncts to the Listed Remedies

Vitamin C in abundance was not mentioned as a helpful adjunct. It is now. But do not use ascorbic acid as your vitamin C source for an adjunct to any of the fluoride detox methods. Do take in as much other types of vitamin C as you can tolerate, along with a couple of tablespoons of lecithin daily. Add those to your absorbable calcium and magnesium supplements with plenty of pure water, get good sleep and rest, and the detox should be relatively smooth.

Chelation therapies are recommended primarily for heavy metal removals. Though fluorides are salts, the synthetic waste product variety, sodium fluoride, comes with a cargo of toxic heavy metals. And these pernicious salts have a way of combining more heavy metals. So including any one of several chelation therapies may be beneficial for overall health improvements while applying your chosen fluoride remedy or remedies.

Those include bentonite clay internally or externally, fulvic acid (NOT folic acid), cilantro pesto with chlorella, and even DMSA or any other chellation therapy with which you are familiar.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026605_fluoride_fluorides_detox.html

Learn About Who Can Benefit from Amino Acid Supplements
Elizabeth Walling, NaturalNews.com  July 11, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are found in any food that contains protein - including grains, nuts and legumes in addition to other sources like meat, poultry, dairy and fish. Think of amino acids as pieces of a complex protein puzzle. They can be disassembled and reassembled to build and repair all kinds of tissue in the body. This makes them vitally important to every one of your body's functions.

Some amino acids must come from outside sources, and these are called essential amino acids. Other amino acids can be made by the body - these are called the nonessential amino acids - as long as a person is healthy and takes in plenty of the essential amino acids. Whether they be essential or nonessential, however, all of the amino acids used by the human body are absolutely critical for healthy living.

Who Can Benefit From Amino Acid Supplements?

While it's important to try to get a balance of amino acids from your diet, this isn't possible for everyone. Certain situations can make it necessary to supplement with one or more amino acids.

There are many reasons someone might benefit from taking an amino acid supplement. Strenuous exercise, aging, drug use, certain medications, infections, vitamin C deficiency, and B vitamin deficiency can all cause an imbalance in amino acids in the body. Here are some examples of when amino acid supplements can help:

- Research has shown athletes, body builders and others with a physically demanding lifestyle can experience better performance and stamina when they take amino acid supplements.

- Amino acids can help speed recovery time in those who have experienced physical trauma or have undergone surgery.

- Supplementing with amino acids is crucial for those with conditions that prevent them from eating solid foods. In these cases, amino acid supplements can help make up for some of the protein lost in the diet.

- People with conditions like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, HIV/Aids, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, adrenal fatigue and liver disease can all benefit from a general amino acid supplement. They may also find certain individual amino acid supplements to be very helpful as well.

- Vegetarians, and especially vegans, may find it difficult to obtain a variety of amino acids from their diet. While it's true that vegetables, grains, pulses, legumes and nuts do contain protein, a large variety of food must be consumed in order to provide adequate amounts of all the amino acids. There are vegetarian and vegan amino acid supplements available for those who need them.

Remember: it's not the amount of protein that is important as much as it is the variety. While adequate protein is certainly an important part ofnutrition, eating it in excess will not solve amino acid deficiencies and can cause other imbalances in the body. Simply taking in more protein cannot solve the problem if you have an amino acid deficiency. It's important to vary your protein sources and supplement with amino acids if necessary.

Tips for Taking Amino Acid Supplements:

- Free-form white crystalline amino acid supplements are usually high quality, non-allergenic and readily absorbable. Liquid forms are also recommended, and are useful if you are looking for a simple way to get more amino acids. Look for amino acids in the L- form (such an L-glutamine or L-cystine), which are easier for the body to use.

- If you have a need for specific amino acids, take them alone on an empty stomach to ensure they are utilized to their full extent. General amino acid supplements should be included within 30 minutes of a meal.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026593_amino_acids_health_disease.html

Make Exercise Easier with Quercetin, Says New Research
Michael Jolliffe, NaturalNews.com  July 11, 2009 

(NaturalNews) A supplement of the nutrient quercetin can help make exercise tolerable for adults who battle fatigue and stress, as well as help boost endurance in seasoned exercisers and athletes, according to a new study conducted at the University of South Carolina.

In a trial conducted by Dr J. Mark Davis and colleagues of the Arnold School of Public Health, a group of students who were not regular exercisers were given two 500mg quercetin supplements each day for a week or a placebo. Daily, the exercise endurance and lung capacity of the students was measured by the researchers after a session of riding a stationary bicycle to their maximum capacity. The groups were then reversed for a week and the results compared.

Numbers revealed that in only one week the endurance of those taking quercetin every day had increased by an average of nearly 15%.

"These data suggest that as little as 7 days of quercetin supplementation can increase endurance without exercise training in untrained participants", wrote the authors in a article to be published in International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. [1]

Dr Davis and colleagues believe that quercetin could be important not only for regular exercisers and athletes but for improving the condition of individuals with chronic health difficulties who find any physical exertion challenging.

"[Quercetin] may be important in relieving fatigue that keeps (people) sedentary, which is great news for those who often think that they're too tired to exercise", said Dr Davis in a University of South Carolina press release.

"We believe that this could be a major breakthrough in nutrition." [2]

Quercetin is a natural compound known as a flavonoid, found abundantly in red apples, red onions, berries, cabbages and broccoli. Little is yet known as to why it may boost exercise endurance, although early research on animals suggests that the nutrient may increase the number of mitochondria, the energy factories of the body, in brain and muscle cells. Quercetin may also have anti-inflammatory effects; the University of South Carolina team has recently accepted a grant from the National Institutes of Health to examine whether it may be protective against colon cancer.

The current study is not the first to reveal that quercetin may provide benefits related to exercise and physical stress. Previously, researchers at Appalachian State University conducted a clinical trial with a group of cyclists in order to measure the protective effect the supplement may have on the immune system. The research involved trained cyclists taking 1000mg quercetin daily or a placebo and riding to the point of exhaustion over three hours for three consecutive days. Nearly half of the participants taking a placebo suffered a cold, 'flu or other immune related illness while only 5% of those taking quercetin suffered similarly. [3]
http://www.naturalnews.com/026591_quercetin_health_placebo.html

How Noise And Nervous System Get In Way Of Reading Skills
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) — A child's brain has to work overtime in a noisy classroom to do its typical but very important job of distinguishing sounds whose subtle differences are key to success with language and reading.
But that simply is too much to ask of the nervous system of a subset of poor readers whose hearing is fine, but whose brains have trouble differentiating the "ba," "da" and "ga" sounds in a noisy environment, according to a new Northwestern University study.
"The 'b,' 'd' and 'g' consonants have rapidly changing acoustic information that the nervous system has to resolve to eventually match up sounds with letters on the page," said Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, where the work was performed.
In other words, the brain's unconscious faulty interpretation of sounds makes a big difference in how words ultimately will be read. "What your ear hears and what your brain interprets are not the same thing," Kraus stressed.
The Northwestern study is the first to demonstrate an unambiguous relationship between reading ability and neural encoding of speech sounds that previous work has shown present phonological challenges for poor readers.
The research offers an unparalleled look at how noise affects the nervous system's transcription of three little sounds that mean so much to literacy.
The online version of the study will be published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on July 13.
The new Northwestern study as well as much of the research that comes out of the Kraus lab focuses on what is happening in the brainstem, an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that scientists in the not too distant past believed simply relayed sensory information from the ear to the cortex.
As such, much of the earlier research relating brain transcription errors to poor reading has focused on the cortex -- associated with high-level functions and cognitive processing.
Focusing earlier in the sensory system, the study demonstrates that the technology developed during the last decade in the Kraus lab now offers a neural metric that is sensitive enough to pick up how the nervous system represents differences in acoustic sounds in individual subjects, rather than, as in cortical-response studies, in groups of people. Importantly, this metric reflects the negative influence of background noise on sound encoding in the brain.
"There are numerous reasons for reading problems or for difficulty hearing speech in noisy situations, and we now have a metric that is practically applicable for measuring sound transcription deficits in individual children," said Kraus, the senior author of the study. "Auditory training and reducing background noise in classrooms, our research suggests, may provide significant benefit to poor readers."
For the study, electrodes were attached to the scalps of children with good and poor speech-in-noise perception skills. Sounds were delivered through earphones to measure the nervous system's ability to distinguish between "ba," "da" and "ga." In another part of the study, sentences were presented in increasingly noisy environments, and children were asked to repeat what they heard.
"In essence, the kids were called upon to do what they would do in a classroom, which is to try to understand what the kid next to them is saying while there is a cacophony of sounds, a rustling of papers, a scraping of chairs," Kraus said.
In a typical neural system there is a clear distinction in how "ba," "da" and "ga" are represented. The information is more accurately transcribed in good readers and children who are good at extracting speech presented in background noise.
"So if a poor reader is having difficulty making sound-to-meaning associations with the 'ba,' 'da' and 'ga' speech sounds, it will show up in the objective measure we used in our study," Kraus said.
Reflecting the interaction of cognitive and sensory processes, the brainstem response is not voluntary.
"The brainstem response is just what the brain does based on our auditory experience throughout our lives, but especially during development," Kraus said. "The way the brain responds to sound will reflect what language you speak, whether you've had musical experience and how you have used sounds."
The Auditory Neuroscience Lab has been a frontrunner in research that has helped establish the relationship between sound encoding in the brainstem, and how this process is affected by an individual's experience throughout the lifespan. In related research with significant implications, recent studies from the Kraus lab show that the process of hearing speech in noise is enhanced in musicians.
"The very transcription processes that are deficient in poor readers are enhanced in people with musical experience," Kraus said. "It makes sense for training programs for poor readers to involve music as well as speech sounds."
The co-authors of the PNAS study are Jane Hornickel, Erika Skoe, Trent Nicol, Steven Zecker and Nina Kraus.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713201442.htm

Pesticide Levels In Blood Linked To Parkinson's Disease
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) — People with Parkinson’s disease have significantly higher blood levels of a particular pesticide than healthy people or those with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
In a study appearing in the July issue of Archives of Neurology, researchers found the pesticide beta-HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane) in 76 percent of people with Parkinson’s, compared with 40 percent of healthy controls and 30 percent of those with Alzheimer’s.
The finding might provide the basis for a beta-HCH blood test to identify individuals at risk for developing Parkinson’s disease. The results also point the way to more research on environmental causes of Parkinson’s.
“There’s been a link between pesticide use and Parkinson’s disease for a long time, but never a specific pesticide,” said Dr. Dwight German, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and a senior author of the paper. “This is particularly important because the disease is not diagnosed until after significant nerve damage has occurred. A test for this risk factor might allow for early detection and protective treatment.”
About 1 million people in the U.S. have Parkinson’s, a number expected to rise as the population ages. The disease occurs when brain cells in particular regions die, causing tremors, cognitive problems and a host of other symptoms.
The study involved 113 participants, ages 50 to 89. Fifty had Parkinson’s, 43 were healthy and 20 had Alzheimer’s. The researchers tested the subjects’ blood for 15 pesticides known as organochlorines.
These pesticides, which include the well-known DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), were widely used in the U.S. from the 1950s to the 1970s but are more tightly regulated now. They persist in the environment for years without breaking down. In the body, they dissolve in fats and are known to attack the type of brain nerves that die in Parkinson’s disease, the researchers said.
“Much higher levels of the beta-HCH were in the air, water and food chain when the Parkinson’s patients were in their 20s and 30s,” Dr. German said. “Also, the half-life of the pesticide is seven to eight years, so it stays in the body for a long time.”
Parkinson’s disease is more common among rural men than other demographic groups, but it is not a matter of a single factor causing the devastating disease, Dr. German said.
“Some people with Parkinson’s might have the disease because of exposure to environmental pesticides, but there are also genes known to play a role in the condition,” Dr. German said.
Although the current study points to an interesting link between the pesticide beta-HCH and Parkinson’s, there could be other pesticides involved with the disease, he said.
For example, the pesticide lindane often contains beta-HCH, but lindane breaks down faster. Beta-HCH might simply be a sign that someone was exposed to lindane, with lindane actually causing the damage to the brain, the researchers said.
In future research, Dr. German hopes to test patients from a wider geographical area and to measure pesticide levels in post-mortem brains. He and his team also are collecting blood samples from both patients with Parkinson’s and their spouses to see if a genetic difference might be making the one with Parkinson’s more susceptible to pesticides than the other.
Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr. Padraig O’Suilleabhain, associate professor of neurology; Dr. Ramón Diaz-Arrastía, professor of neurology; and Dr. Joan Reisch, professor of clinical sciences. Researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, including lead author Dr. Jason Richardson, and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in New Jersey also participated in the study.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute on Aging, the Dallas Area Parkinsonism Society, Rowe & Co. Inc., the Dallas Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713170711.htm

Citrus-derived Flavonoid Prevents Obesity, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) — A flavonoid derived from citrus fruit has shown tremendous promise for preventing weight gain and other signs of metabolic syndrome which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, led by Murray Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario looked at a flavonoid (plant-based bioactive molecule) called naringenin.
In the study one group of mice was fed a high-fat (western) diet to induce the symptoms of metabolic syndrome. A second group was fed the exact same diet and treated with naringenin. Naringenin corrected the elevations in triglyceride and cholesterol, prevented the development of insulin resistance and completely normalized glucose metabolism. The researchers found it worked by genetically reprogramming the liver to burn up excess fat, rather than store it.
"Furthermore, the marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin," says Huff, Director of the Vascular Biology Research Group at Robarts and Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. "What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences."
While grapefruit has long been linked to weight loss diets, the concentrations of the citrus-derived flavonoid being studied are at higher levels than you could get from dietary components. "We are examining the pharmacological properties of naringenin," explains Huff. "The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans."
This study investigated naringenin's preventative properties, but Huff is also investigating whether it can treat obesity and other existing metabolic problems. "These studies show naringenin, through its insulin-like properties, corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance and represents a promising therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome.
The findings are published online in the journal Diabetes. The co-first authors on the paper are Erin Mulvihill and Emma Allister. The research was funded primarily by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713114459.htm

Environmental Manganese Good In Trace Amounts But Can Correlate To Cancer Rates
ScienceDaily (July 13, 2009) — In the first ecological study of its kind in the world, a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researcher has uncovered the unique finding that groundwater and airborne manganese in North Carolina correlates with cancer mortality at the county level.
Lead researcher John Spangler, M.D., professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, found that groundwater manganese appears to be positively associated with total cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer death rates, while airborne manganese concentrations appear to be inversely associated with total cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer death rates.
"People need manganese in trace amounts, but if you get too much of it, manganese can be dangerous," Spangler said. "It's my hope that the impact of this study will be to spark additional interest and research. This really just raises the concern that something may be going on and argues for further research into these issues."
To determine whether environmental manganese is related to cancer at the county level in North Carolina, Spangler conducted an ecological study using data from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, North Carolina Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Census.
He found that airborne manganese was associated at the county level with an 14 percent decrease in total cancer deaths, a 43 percent decrease in breast cancer deaths and a 22 percent decrease in lung cancer deaths. Additionally, Spangler found there was up to a 28 percent increase in county-level colon cancer deaths and a 26 percent increase in lung cancer deaths at the county level related to elevation of manganese in groundwater as opposed to air.
"That's pretty astounding. These are the first data we know of to document a potential relationship between environmental manganese and population-level cancer death rates," Spangler said. "The positive association between groundwater manganese and specific cancer mortality rates might be a function of the high concentrations measures, while the inverse relationship between air manganese and death rates might point toward adequate (e.g. healthy) county-level manganese exposures."
Spangler points out that because manganese now replaces lead in gasoline globally, the amount of manganese in the environment is increasing and may worsen the groundwater concentration numbers in the future. The effects of these ecological findings should be confirmed at the individual level or in animal models, he said.
Spangler et al. Environmental Manganese and Cancer Mortality Rates by County in North Carolina: An Ecological Study. Biological Trace Element Research, 2009; DOI: 10.1007/s12011-009-8415-9
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710170107.htm

Asian Spice Could Reduce Breast Cancer Risk In Women Exposed To Hormone Replacement Therapy
ScienceDaily (July 13, 2009) — Previous studies have found that postmenopausal women who have taken a combined estrogen and progestin hormone replacement therapy have increased their risk of developing progestin-accelerated breast tumors. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could reduce the cancer risk for women after exposure to hormone replacement therapy.
"Approximately 6 million women in the United States use hormone replacement therapy to treat the symptoms of menopause," said Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professorship in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. "This exposure to progestin will predispose a large number of post-menopausal women to future development of breast cancer. The results of our study show that women could potentially take curcumin to protect themselves from developing progestin-accelerated tumors."
In the study, researchers found that curcumin delayed the first appearance, decreased incidence and reduced multiplicity of progestin-accelerated tumors in an animal model. Curcumin also prevented the appearance of gross morphological abnormalities in the mammary glands. In previous studies, MU researchers showed that progestin accelerated the development of certain tumors by increasing production of a molecule called VEGF that helps supply blood to the tumor. By blocking the production of VEGF, researchers could potentially reduce the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Curcumin inhibits progestin-induced VEGF secretion from breast cancer cells, Hyder said.
"Curcumin and other potential anti-angiogenic compounds should be tested further as dietary chemopreventive agents in women already exposed to hormone replacement therapy containing estrogen and progestin in an effort to decrease or delay the risk of breast cancer associated with combined hormone replacement therapy," Hyder said.
The study was coauthored by Hyder; Candace Carroll, graduate student of biomedical sciences; Cynthia Besch-Williford, associate professor of veterinary pathobiology in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine; and Mark Ellersieck, professor and researcher in the MU Experiment Station Statistics.
. Curcumin delays development of MPA-accelerated DMBA-induced mammary tumors. Menopause, (in press)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713121350.htm

Diets Bad For The Teeth Are Also Bad For The Body
ScienceDaily (July 12, 2009) — Dental disease may be a wake-up call that your diet is harming your body.
"The five-alarm fire bell of a tooth ache is difficult to ignore," says Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel, professor of dental public health sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Dentistry in Seattle. Beyond the immediate distress, dental pain may portend future medical problems. It may be a warning that the high-glycemic diet that led to dental problems in the short term may, in the long term, lead to potentially serious chronic diseases.
Hujoel reviewed the relationships between diet, dental disease, and chronic systemic illness in a report published July 1 in the Journal of Dental Research. He weighed two contradictory viewpoints on the role of dietary carbohydrates in health and disease. The debate surrounds fermentable carbohydates: foods that turn into simple sugars in the mouth. Fermentable carbohydrates are not just sweets like cookies, doughnuts, cake and candy. They also include bananas and several tropical fruits, sticky fruits like raisins and other dried fruits, and starchy foods like potatoes, refined wheat flour, yams, rice, pasta, pretzels, bread, and corn.
One viewpoint is that certain fermentable carbohydrates are beneficial to general health and that the harmful dental consequences of such a diet should be managed by the tools found in the oral hygiene section of drugstores. A contrasting viewpoint suggests that fermentable carbohydrates are bad for both dental and general health, and that both dental and general health need to be maintained by restricting fermentable carbohydrates.
The differing perspectives on the perceived role of dietary carbohydrates have resulted in opposing approaches to dental disease prevention, Hujoel notes, and have prompted debates in interpreting the link between dental diseases and such systemic diseases as obesity, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.
Over the past twenty years or so, Hujoel says, people have been advised to make fermentable dietary carbohydrates the foundation of their diet. Fats were considered the evil food. A high-carbohydrate diet was assumed to prevent a number of systemic chronic diseases. Unfortunately, such a diet - allegedly good for systemic health - was bad for dental health. As a result, cavities or gingival bleeding from fermentable carbohydrates could be avoided only – and not always successfully, as Hujoel points out -- by conscientious brushing, fluorides, and other types of dental preventive measures. When these measures are not successful, people end up with cavities and gum disease.
Hujoel observed that the dental harms of fermentable carbohydrates have been recognized by what looks like every major health organization. Even those fermentable carbohydrates assumed to be good for systemic health break down into simple sugars in the mouth and promote tooth decay. All fermentable carbohydrates have the potential to induce dental decay, Hujoel notes.
But what if fermentable carbohydrates are also bad for systemic health? Hujoel asks. What if dietary guidelines would start incorporating the slew of clinical trial results suggesting that a diet low in fermentable carbohydrates improves cardiovascular markers of disease and decreases body fat? Such a change in perspective on fermentable carbohydrates, and by extension, on people's diets, could have a significant impact on the dental profession, as a diet higher in fat and protein does not cause dental diseases, he notes. Dentists would no longer be pressed to recommend to patients diets that are bad for teeth or remain mum when it comes to dietary advice. Dentists often have been reluctant, Hujoel says, to challenge the prevailing thinking on nutrition. Advising patients to reduce the amount or frequency of fermentable carbohydrate consumption is difficult when official guidelines suggested the opposite.
The close correlation between the biological mechanisms that cause dental decay and the factors responsible for high average levels of glucose in the blood is intriguing. Hujoel explains that eating sugar or fermentable carbohydrates drops the acidity levels of dental plaque and is considered an initiating cause of dental decay.
"Eating these same foods, he says, is also associated with spikes in blood sugar levels. There is fascinating evidence that suggests that the higher the glycemic level of a food, the more it will drop the acidity of dental plaque, and the higher it will raise blood sugar. So, possibly, dental decay may really be a marker for the chronic high-glycemic diets that lead to both dental decay and chronic systemic diseases. This puts a whole new light on studies that have linked dental diseases to such diverse illnesses as Alzheimer's disease and pancreatic cancer."
The correlations between dental diseases and systemic disease, he adds, provide indirect support for those researchers who have suggested that Alzheimer's disease and pancreatic cancer are due to an abnormal blood glucose metabolism.
The hypotheses on dental diseases as a marker for the diseases of civilization were postulated back in the mid-20th century by two physicians: Thomas Cleave and John Yudkin. Tragically, their work, although supported by epidemiological evidence, became largely forgotten, Hujoel notes. This is unfortunate, he adds, because dental diseases really may be the most noticeable and rapid warning sign to an individual that something is going awry with his or her diet.
"Dental problems from poor dietary habits appear in a few weeks to a few years," Hujoel explains. "Dental improvement can be rapid when habits are corrected. For example, reducing sugar intake can often improve gingivitis scores (a measurement of gum disease) in a couple of weeks. Dental disease reveals very early on that eating habits are putting a person at risk for systemic disease. Because chronic medical disease takes decades to become severe enough to be detected in screening tests, dental diseases may provide plenty of lead-time to change harmful eating habits and thereby decrease the risk of developing the other diseases of civilization."
In planning a daily or weekly menu, Hujoel suggests: "What's good for your oral health looks increasingly likely to also benefit your overall health."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709170807.htm