Encouraging Health

Men who consume 5 cups a day or more could halve risk, study finds

Drinking green tea may reduce the risk of advanced prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at Japan’s National Cancer Center.

It said men who drank five or more cups a day might halve the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer compared with those who drank less than one cup a day.

“This does not mean that people who drink green tea are guaranteed to have reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer,� said Norie Kurahashi, a scientist who took part in the study.

“We are just presenting our results. But the study does point to the hope that green tea reduces the risk of advanced prostate cancer.�

Prostate cancer is much less common among Asian men than Western men, and that may be partly due to the effects of the high consumption of green tea in Asia, the study said.

But it said further studies are needed to confirm the preventive effects of green tea on prostate cancer, including well-designed clinical trials.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, compiled data from 50,000 men aged 40-69 over a period of up to 14 years from 1990.

British charity Cancer Research UK says on its Web site that a study of almost 20,000 Japanese men published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006 found no relationship between green tea and prostate cancer.

600 mg of Standardised Green Tea Extract…
Another study measured the effects of a one year green tea supplementation trial on 32 men with “PIN” (Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia), which is a pre-malignant from of prostate cancer. There were 30 none supplemented men in the control group.

At the end of the one year trial, only one of the 32 men treated with green tea catechins went on to develop actual cancer. Conversely, 9 of the 30 men given placebo developed prostate cancer. Thus, in this trail, it appears that the green tea catechins decreased the likelihood of progression of prostate cancer by 90%! Although this was a small study, it was extremely convincing.

Professor Bettuzzi went on to say:-
“There are other studies strongly suggesting that similar results from green tea could be obtained for prevention of other types of cancer. As a matter of fact, breast and colon cancer are possible targets. In the near future, we are supposed to start a collaborative trial involving both Italy and the United States on this matter”.
Keep in mind that the above study used standardized green tea catechins (600 mgs per day), not just brewed green tea. You would have to drink twelve or more cups of green tea to equal that dose(4).

It appears that the benefit of the green tea catechins relates to a particular chemical within the catechins known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). The Italian study clearly demonstrated that EGCG targets prostate cancer cells specifically for elimination without damaging normal tissue.

More about the Green Tea Polyphenols…
Green tea or a lipid-extract obtained from green tea leaves has multiple pharmacologic actions(3). Green and black tea are derived from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. However, only green tea is rich in the flavonol group of polyphenols known as catechins. The fermentation process used in making black tea destroys the biologically active polyphenols of the fresh leaf. The catechins as a chemical group have significant free-radical scavenging properties and are potent antioxidants. The four catechins that are found in green tea leaves include:
Epicatechin (EC)
Epigallocatechin (EGC)
Epicatechin gallate (ECG)
Epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG)

want to learn more about food? GO tohttp://www.earthlyeating.com/.

green tea, prostate cancee

green tea, prostate cancee

For the first time, doctors have used stem cells from liposuctioned fat to fix breast defects in women who have had cancerous lumps removed.

The approach is still experimental, but holds promise for millions of women left with cratered areas and breasts that look very different from each other after cancer surgery. It also might be a way to augment healthy breasts without using artificial implants.

So far, it has only been tested on about two dozen women in a study in Japan. But doctors in the United States say it has great potential.

“This is a pretty exciting topic right now in plastic surgery,” said Dr. Karol Gutowski of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There are people all over the country working on this.”

The Japanese study was reported Saturday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The company that developed the treatment, San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics, plans larger studies in Europe and Japan next year.

More than 100,000 women have lumps removed each year in the United States. These operations, lumpectomies, often are done instead of mastectomies, which take the whole breast. But they often leave deformities because as much as a third of a woman’s breast may be removed.

“It’s almost a euphemism” to call it a lumpectomy, said Dr. Sydney Coleman, a plastic surgeon at New York University who has consulted for Cytori and is interested in the stem cell approach.

The defect “initially may not be as noticeable” but it often gets worse, especially if the woman also has radiation treatment, said Dr. Sameer Patel, a reconstructive surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

“There’s a growing push to try to involve the plastic surgeon particularly for this reason — to try to avoid a defect,” but once one develops, options to repair it are limited, Patel said.

The implants sold today are for reconstructing breasts after mastectomies. They aren’t designed to fix odd-shaped deformities from lumpectomies or radiation.

“Each one is so different, there’s no little thing you can just pop in there,” Gutowski explained.

Doctors can try making the other breast smaller so they match, transplanting a back muscle to boost the flawed breast, or rearranging tissue to more evenly distribute what’s left. But these involve surgery and leave scars.

Mini implants of fat tissue have been tried, but they often get resorbed by the body or die and turn hard and lumpy. The recent discovery that fat cells are rich in stem cells — master cells that can replenish themselves and form other tissues in the body — renewed interest in their use.

In the Japanese study, doctors liposuctioned fat from 21 breast cancer patients’ tummies, hips or thighs. Half was reserved as the main implant material; the rest was processed to extract stem cells and combined with the reserved fat. This was injected in three places around a breast defect.

Doctors think the stem cells will keep the tissue from dying and form lasting mini implants.

Eight months after treatment, “about 80 percent of the patients are satisfied” with the results, said the lead researcher, Dr. Keizo Sugimachi of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan.

There was a statistically significant improvement in breast tissue thickness at one and six months after treatment.

Doctors with no role in the research say longer study is needed to see if these results last.

For more information on Breast Cancer, go to:http://www.discussingbreastcancer.com/

stem cells, breast reconstruction, breast cancer

stem cells, breast reconstruction, breast cancer

Adults age 58 and higher likely benefit even more than kids, study finds

The added fluoride in many Americans’ drinking water may be protecting older adults’ teeth from decay, a study suggests.

Fluoridated drinking water has been credited with cutting rates of tooth decay among Americans, but the benefit is often thought of as being largely for children.

However, older adults may stand to gain as much or more, researchers report in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry.

In a study looking at dental care costs among nearly 52,000 members of one insurance plan, researchers found that those living in areas with fluoridated drinking water spent less on dental fillings than those without fluoridated water supplies.

When the researchers looked at plan members by age, however, it turned out that the benefit was seen in children and, to an even greater extent, in adults older than age 58.

“Our finding that fluoridated water lowered the number of dental fillings confirms studies on younger people but breaks new ground on older individuals,” lead researcher Dr. Gerardo Maupome said in a statement.

“While those we studied had dental insurance, many older adults, who are often retired, don’t have dental insurance and so prevention of decay is very important,” added Maupome, of the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis.

Much of the research on fluoridated drinking water has focused on children, the researcher noted, but more attention should go toward the potential benefits among adults.

“Community water fluoridation is a sound public health investment for people of all ages,” he said.

Search more articles on Flouride at http://www.environmentaltalk.com/

Your daily cup of java may do more than get you going and out the door. It might also reduce your risk for blood sugar disorders.

Research shows that coffee might decrease the risk of developing diabetes by about 25 percent. But watch the sugar. Here’s why.

Make It Black
People who add sugar to coffee or tea don’t get the protective blood sugar effect, and they may run a higher risk of developing cancer of the pancreas. That’s because the risk of developing pancreatic cancer is related, in part, to the amount of sugar in the diet. People who drink fizzy or syrup-based sweet drinks twice a day or more have a 90 percent higher risk of getting cancer of the pancreas than those who never drink them. Suddenly, that sweet stuff doesn’t seem so sweet!

A Smile Fizzler

Fizzy diet sodas that are better for your waistline may still hurt your teeth.

The acid in fizzy drinks, even diet varieties, may contribute to enamel erosion that can weaken teeth, according to research. Enamel is the hard, outer layer that protects teeth. Rinse or chew sugar-free gum after you drink soda to neutralize acid and minimize damage to your pearly whites.

Acid found in carbonated beverages erodes enamel, stripping teeth of calcium and minerals. This exposes the dentine, the soft, living tissue underneath the enamel. Enamel erosion can lead to tooth pain, sensitivity, and an increased risk of decay. In a study, high consumption of carbonated beverages was associated with a greater than 250 percent increased risk of tooth erosion. Light-colored soft drinks were more harmful to teeth than darker carbonated beverages, such as colas. Canned iced tea and citrus beverages also caused significant enamel erosion. While plain water is your best beverage choice, diet root beer was deemed the safest soft drink for tooth enamel.

Caffeine Caution
Coffee isn’t for everyone. If you’re sensitive to caffeine’s effects, you may want to avoid it. And even if you aren’t, it’s best to limit yourself to about 250 milligrams of caffeine a day.

Looking for that perfect treat? Look here: http://www.limitededitionfoods.com/bali-blue-moon-limited-edition-coffee/

coffee, lower blood sugar

coffee, lower blood sugar

Nervous about making a bad impression at a holiday party? Don’t be. Far fewer people than you think will even perceive if you make a social flub.

At least that’s what a study revealed when college students were asked to don a Barry Manilow T-shirt before entering a room full of people. Here’s how many people actually noticed.

Attention Getter?
Despite the college students’ worst fears, only about half the people they expected to actually did notice the famed “Copacabana” singer emblazoned across their chests. Researchers dub this situation the “spotlight effect.” What it means is that in social situations, people tend to grossly overestimate how much others are paying attention to their actions or appearance.

The takeaway lesson? Whether you’re having a bad hair day, living with a little coffee stain on your shirt, or feeling like a lackluster conversationalist, don’t stress! All eyes aren’t upon you.

Still stressed?

Take these six steps whenever something stresses you out:
1. ID the source of your stress. Some sources of stress are easy to point the finger at, but are they really what’s bothering you? Lashing out at your kids, for example, may be a reaction not to what your kids just did but to an extra assignment piled on at work. The first step to managing stress: pinpointing the true culprit.

2. Focus on the moment. Being mindful — really paying attention to the present, not the past or the future — can help you manage stress. Spend some time every day noticing the things most people tend to ignore — like breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions.

This “body scan” can help you practice living in the moment:
Lie down.
Close your eyes and notice your posture. Keep your mind on your body — nothing else.
Focus on the natural flow of your breath as air fills your lungs and leaves your lungs, fills your lungs and leaves your lungs.
Notice your toes — any tension, tingling, or temperature changes?
Think about your feet, heels, and ankles, and then your knees, thighs, and pelvis. Don’t rush. Take your time.
Continue working your way up your body, finishing with your throat, jaw, tongue, face, and brow.

3. Look after your health. Stress is much more manageable when the other aspects of your life — from general health to sleep patterns to eating habits — are in good order. When you don’t get enough sleep, for instance, your body produces more stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress. Evaluate what areas in your life need attention, and work on fixes.

4. Workout. Or walk for 30 minutes, stretch, do yoga — just get up and move! Exercise is one of life’s greatest stress relievers. Try it.

5. Do the opposite. Every emotion has an “urge to act” that goes with it. When we feel afraid or anxious, we avoid things; when we’re depressed or sad, we withdraw; when we’re angry, we’re tempted to lash out or yell. Unfortunately, each of these behaviors actually makes things worse. But if you can do the opposite action, you may make things better. Worried about something? Tackle it instead of ignoring it. Angry at someone? Don’t lash out, be empathetic. Depressed? Go out rather than shutting yourself in.

6. Focus on your muscles. By tensing and relaxing your muscles, you can help relieve some of the physical stress that’s stored in your body. Start at the bottom: Tense the muscles of your feet and then relax them. Tense and relax the different muscle groups of your body one at a time — your legs, stomach, back, neck, arms, face, and head. And breathe.

Check Out http://www.mental-emotionalhealth.com/ for more tips.

holiday dressing, stress, de-stress

holiday dressing, stress, de-stress

Gene also raises risk of prostrate, pancreatic malignancies, study says

Doctors are encouraging a new group of people to consider getting tested for genes that raise the risk of breast cancer: men.

Male relatives of women with such genes often do not realize that they, too, may carry them, and face greater odds of developing male breast cancer, as well as prostate, pancreatic and skin cancer, new research suggests.

“Everyone thinks of breast and ovarian cancer and just assumes it’s all women. They don’t even realize these genes can be inherited from the father’s side of the family,” said Dr. Mary Daly of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

After seeing breast cancer in several male patients who did not know they were at risk, Daly conducted a small study, which was presented Friday at a conference in Texas. She now is trying to convince more fathers, sons and brothers of women with the genes to get tested.

“Very few of them want to,” she said.

Breast cancer is the most common major cancer in American women. More than 178,000 new cases, and more than 40,000 deaths from it, are expected in the U.S. this year.

But men get it, too — about 2,030 cases are estimated to occur this year, accounting for about 1 percent of all breast cancer cases, according to the American Cancer Society. About 450 of these male cases will prove fatal.

The BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 genes markedly raise the risk of breast cancer and are most prevalent among those of Eastern European Jewish descent. In men, they double the normal risk of prostate cancer, triple the risk of pancreatic cancer and make breast cancer seven times more likely to develop.

As part of a larger study on perceptions of genetic risk, Daly surveyed 24 close blood relatives of women who had tested positive for one of these genes and had told their male kin the results.

Six men said they hadn’t been told, or had forgotten. Of the other 18, two mistakenly said the test had been negative. Seven did not think the results revealed anything about their own cancer risk. Only five understood they, too, might carry the genes.

Of the six who expressed any interest in being tested themselves, three said they were doing so mostly for their children’s sake.

“We try to reach out to the men in these families, particularly men who have little children,” Daly said. “If they were to die without being tested, their children would grow up without that information” that they, too, were at risk, she said.

Dr. Steven Vogl, a cancer doctor in private practice in New York, said he recognized that potential when his neighbor was dying of lung cancer and told him how many female relatives had suffered or died of breast and other cancers.

“Being a good doctor, I took a history,” and realized the man, an Eastern European Jew, probably had the gene.

“At least it will help his granddaughter” to know of the risk, Vogl said.

Women, too, need to realize they are doing male relatives and their descendants a favor when they reveal their own genetic risk from BRCA genes.

“They don’t realize they are at risk,” or that their grandchildren may be, Daly said.

To find out what more you can do as a father, check out http://www.allaboutfatherhood.com/

men, breast cancer gene

men, breast cancer gene

Whether it’s revving up our veggie burgers or toning down our barbecue sauces, ketchup is one condiment few people could live without.

So squeeze more out of it by going organic. Organic ketchup packs three times more lycopene than the regular stuff and almost twice the level of flavonoids. Here’s what all that extra nutrition means for your body.

Love That Lycopene
Lycopene gives fruits (like tomatoes!) and veggies a rich red color, and it may give your body a leg up on loads of diseases — from cancer to clogged arteries.

Tricks of the Trade
Here are a few more tricks for getting more lycopene with less effort.

Absorb 400 times more lycopene from your salsa by adding this:

Topping spinach salad with half a cup of sliced avocado helps you absorb 14 times more beta carotene from the greens. Lycopene and beta carotene are fat-soluble carotenoids — meaning they need to piggyback with fat to be absorbed in your small intestine. Avocado, olive oil, pine nuts . . . any source of healthful fat will do the trick.

Choose this color tomato for more bioavailable lycopene:

Designer T’maters
The tomatoes in the study aren’t commercially available, but many varieties of tangerine tomato have the very bioavailable form of lycopene. They’re just not easy to
find — you can try ordering the seeds online or checking local farmers markets. Orange heirloom tomatoes also may have the more bioavailable lycopene.

3 Ways to Unload More Lycopene
For those of us noshing on red tomatoes, here are three tricks to unleash their lycopene:

1. Slice, dice, or puree them. Processing tomatoes helps unleash the lycopene.
2. Eat them with a bit of fat. Lycopene must latch on to fat (so you might as well make it healthy, like olive oil) to be absorbed by the intestinal wall.
3. Heat ’em up. Heat converts the lycopene in red tomatoes into a form that’s easier for your body to absorb.

There’s a great idea aboutsmall space gardens from the Earthly Garden blog .

Remember, guys, lycopene in tomatoes helps ward off Prostrate cancer.
tomato, lycopene

tomato, lycopene

Adult blood levels down to 199 for first time in nearly 50 years, report finds

Americans may be too fat, but at least their cholesterol is low. For the first time in nearly 50 years, the average cholesterol level for U.S. adults is in the ideal range, the government reported Wednesday.

Results from a national survey that included blood tests found the total average cholesterol level dropped to 199 last year. Experts consider 200 and lower to be ideal.

The growing use of cholesterol-lowering pills in middle-aged and older people is believed to be a key reason for the improvement, experts said. When the survey began in 1960, the average cholesterol was at 222.

While Americans have gotten much heavier since then, they’ve been able to lower their cholesterol with powerful drugs that carry few if any side effects. High cholesterol can clog arteries and lead to heart disease.

Doctors’ groups have increasingly recommended more aggressive use of these drugs in patients seen to be at risk from heart disease. And screening has become common — two-thirds of men and three-fourths of women had been screened for high cholesterol in the previous five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The result? Cholesterol medications are the top-selling class of U.S. drugs, and sales have grown steadily from about $13 billion in 2002 to nearly $22 billion in 2006, according to IMS Health, a Connecticut-based consulting company that monitors pharmaceutical sales.

“There’s been an explosion in the use of these medications, and appropriately so in the majority of cases,� said Dr. Elizabeth Jackson, a preventive cardiologist at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

The CDC, which runs the cholesterol survey, collects data in two-year intervals. The new results are based on a national sample of about 4,500 people age 20 and older from 2005-06. The new level of 199 compares with 204 in 1999-2000.

Researchers also found that the percentage of adults with high cholesterol, 240 or higher, dropped to 16 percent, down from 20 percent in the early 1990s.

They also reported that the most pronounced declines were in men aged 40 and older and women 60 and over.

“These age groups are the ones most likely to be treated with medication,� said Susan Schober of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and lead author of the report.

However, there was little change in cholesterol levels for other age groups, prompting some experts to suspect the news may not be all good.

Celebrate your good cholesterol over at http://www.elementarychef.com/

cholesterol

cholesterol

Radiation levels are low, but may carry risk to the fetus, study says

Pregnant women are receiving more high-tech imaging exams, exposing their babies to higher doses of radiation than a decade ago, a study said on Tuesday.

While the levels of radiation exposure are low, they carry a slight risk of harm to the developing fetus, said study author Elizabeth Lazarus, a professor of diagnostic imaging at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

A review of 5,235 imaging examinations performed on pregnant women at Brown from 1997 to 2006 found the number of those exams rose 121 percent. The exams included computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine and plain film X-rays.

An abdominal ultrasound, a routine exam performed during pregnancy, does not expose the patient to ionizing radiation, which can cause cell damage.

CT exams, which deliver more radiation than other procedures, saw the greatest increase in use, rising by about 25 percent a year. Use of X-rays increased 7 percent a year, and nuclear medical exams rose by 12 percent annually.

Higher than X-rays
CT scans are used in pregnancy only to detect potentially life-threatening conditions such as bleeding in the brain, blood clots in the lungs or appendicitis.

Researchers estimated the average fetal radiation exposure for CT was 0.69 rads, compared to 0.04 rads for nuclear tests and 0.0015 rads for X-rays. The data were released at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

“A patient being recommended for a test like this should talk to their doctor to find out if there are any alternative tests or if there is any harm waiting,” Lazarus said in an interview.

“But if one of these tests is needed, we would not discourage any patients from undergoing one, because making a diagnosis could also be life-saving.”

Having a baby or thinning of having one? Then, check out http://www.reviewingbabygear.com/

pregnant, medical scans

pregnant, medical scans

What is hypertension?
Hypertension is the term for blood pressure that is consistently higher than normal. Blood pressure is the force of blood against artery walls as the heart pumps blood through the body. Blood pressure can be unhealthy if it is above 120/80. The higher your blood pressure, the greater the health risk.

That’s right. Hypertensive people in a small study slashed their systolic blood pressure by 15 points after doing handgrip exercises for just 8 weeks. Having trouble opening those jelly jars? Here are three quick ways to start getting a better grip.

Behind the Strength
Researchers don’t yet understand exactly how hand exercises help blood pressure. More research is needed before they could be considered a legitimate part of blood-pressure-lowering therapies.

High blood pressure can be controlled if you take these steps:

Maintain a healthy weight.
Be physically active.
Follow a healthy eating plan, which includes foods lower in salt and sodium.
If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.
As noted in this list, diet affects high blood pressure. Following the DASH diet and reducing the amount of sodium in your diet will help lower your blood pressure. It will also help prevent high blood pressure.

What is the DASH diet?
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is a diet that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat. It emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods. The DASH diet also includes whole-grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts. It encourages fewer servings of red meat, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages. It is rich in magnesium, potassium, and calcium, as well as protein and fiber.

How do I get started on the DASH diet?
The DASH diet requires no special foods and has no hard-to-follow recipes. Start by seeing how DASH compares with your current eating habits.

The DASH eating plan shown is based on 2,000 calories a day. Your health care provider or a dietitian can help you determine how many calories a day you need. Most adults need somewhere between 1600 and 2800 calories a day. Serving sizes will vary between 1/2 cup and 1 1/4 cups. Check the product’s nutrition label to determine serving sizes of particular products.

Food Group servings serving size
——————————————————-

Grains and 7 to 8 1 slice of bread,
grain products 1 cup ready-to-eat cold cereal
1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta,
or cereal

Vegetables 4 to 5 1 cup raw leafy vegetable
1/2 cup cooked vegetable
6 oz vegetable juice

Fruits 4 to 5 1 medium fruit
1/4 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup fresh, frozen, or
canned fruit
6 oz fruit juice

Low-fat or 2 to 3 8 oz milk
fat-free 1 cup yogurt
dairy foods 1 1/2 ounces cheese

Lean meats,
poultry, 2 or fewer 3 ounces cooked lean meat,
or fish skinless poultry, or fish

Nuts, seeds, 1/3 cup or 1 1/2 oz nuts
and dry beans 4 to 5 per week 1 tablespoon or 1/2 oz seeds
1/2 cup cooked dry beans

Fats and oils 2 to 3 1 teaspoon soft margarine
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons light salad
dressing
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Sweets 5 per week 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon jelly or jam
1/2 oz jelly beans
8 oz lemonade

——————————————————-

Make changes gradually. Here are some suggestions that might help:

If you now eat 1 or 2 servings of vegetables a day, add a serving at lunch and another at dinner.
If you don’t eat fruit now or have only juice at breakfast, add a serving to your meals or have it as a snack.
Drink milk or water with lunch or dinner instead of soda, sugar-sweetened tea, or alcohol. Choose low-fat (1%) or fat-free (skim) dairy products to reduce how much saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and calories you eat. If you have trouble digesting dairy products, try taking lactase enzyme pills or drops (available at drugstores and groceries) with the dairy foods. Or buy lactose-free milk or milk with lactase enzyme added to it.
Read food labels on margarines and salad dressings to choose products lowest in fat.
If you now eat large portions of meat, cut back gradually–by a half or a third at each meal. Limit meat to 6 ounces a day (2 servings). Three to four ounces is about the size of a deck of cards.
Have 2 or more vegetarian-style (meatless) meals each week. Increase servings of vegetables, rice, pasta, and beans in all meals. Try casseroles and pasta, and stir-fry dishes, which have less meat and more vegetables, grains, and beans.

The DASH eating plan was not designed for weight loss. But it contains many lower calorie foods, such as fruits and vegetables. You can make it lower in calories by replacing higher calorie foods with more fruits and vegetables.

Want to read more on Hypertension? Look here.

hypertension

hypertension