Tag Archives: type

Consuming soy peptide may reduce colon cancer metastasis

"In this new study, we find that giving lunasin orally at 20 mg/kg of body weight reduced the number of metastatic tumors by 94 percent — we went from 18 tumors to only one. And that was done using lunasin alone; no other type of therapy was used," said Elvira de Mejia, a U of I professor of food chemistry and food toxicology. In the first study, injections of lunasin were used in concert with the chemotherapy drug oxaliplatin, yielding impressive results: a sixfold reduction in metastatic tumors to the liver. …

Major study examines meat-diabetes link

People who increased their consumption of red meat during a four-year period were more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in a subsequent four-year period, according to an analysis involving about 150,000 people. The analysis, led by researchers at the National University of Singapore, took data from three long-running Harvard University studies involving mostly nurses and doctors. The results were published online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association. The studies were funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. While prior studies have also found a link between red-meat consumption and the development of Type 2 diabetes, the new analysis is believed to be the first time researchers have tracked changes in red-meat consumption over time with the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Study participants filled out detailed questionnaires about the types of food and drinks they consumed at the beginning of the study and every four years. The analysis looked at some 20 years of data. Broadly, the study showed that, compared with a group of people who had no change in red-meat intake, increasing red-meat consumption by more than a half-serving per day over a four-year period was associated with a 48 percent increase in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes during the next four years. However, reducing red-meat consumption by the same amount during the same time period didn't cut the risk of diabetes during the next four years. It did reduce the risk by 14 percent over a longer time period, though. The changes were independent of other factors such as body weight and overall diet quality. “Our results confirm the robustness of the association between red meat and [Type 2 diabetes prevention] and add further evidence that limiting red-meat consumption over time confers benefits for…prevention,” the study authors wrote. An Pan, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, was the study's lead author. Other doctors say red meat in and of itself isn't necessarily the trouble. “It is not the type of protein (or meat) that is the problem; it is the type of fat,” said William J. Evans, who is affiliated with both Duke University and GlaxoSmithKline PLC., and who wrote a commentary about the study that was also published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. “It's mischaracterizing red meat as high fat,” Evans said in an interview. He said consumers could choose lean cuts of red meat such as sirloin tips or round steak over high-fat cuts like rib-eye. Dr. Pan could not be reached for comment Monday. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/18/major-study-examines-meat-diabetes-link/

Walking after meals may reduce diabetes risk

Doctors have long recommended exercise to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in those at high risk for the condition. But a new study found that doing a short walk right after you eat may be the simplest and most effective strategy, especially for older adults. The study,  published in Diabetes Care, found that a 15-minute walk about a half an hour after each meal was as effective at reducing blood sugar as a single 45-minute morning or late afternoon walk.  But researchers found that the quick walk after dinner was even more effective than the longer afternoon walk in lowering blood sugars (glucose) over night into the next day. “The post-meal exercise was especially efficient at lowering the 3-hour post-dinner blood sugar glucose,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Loretta DiPietro, chair of the department of exercise science at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. The study also found that the most effective time to go for a post-meal walk was after the evening meal. Dinner is usually the largest meal of the day, causing the greatest rise in blood sugar, which lasts into the night and the next morning. These affects were significantly reduced by the after dinner walk.    This is an important finding for older people. As you age, your insulin response to help shuttle sugar out of the bloodstream becomes sluggish. Insulin levels also start to fall in the afternoon and into the evening, adding to the weaker response to sugars you consume. Many people end up sitting around after dinner and going to bed with very high blood sugar levels – which according to DiPietro – is the worst thing you can do. When you exercise, contracting muscles help to clear sugar from the blood and get it stored in the muscles or liver. In this study, older adults walked at a moderate pace, not a brisk walk and not a leisurely stroll. This study, though small, was one of the first to look at the timing of exercise. The general recommendations are to get 150 minutes of exercise a week or at least 30 minutes five days a week. But the study looked at what happened a half an hour after a meal, during the time when sugar begins to flood the blood stream. “When you look at the data, you can see the blood sugar started to go up after a meal, and the exercise abruptly halted that upward rise in blood sugar,” said DiPietro. Though the findings need to be confirmed in larger trials, they are important for those with prediabetes and older individuals. An estimated 79 million Americans have prediabetes but most have no idea they are even at risk. “It may be easy for older adults to take a short walk or combine walking after a meal with running errands or walking the dog,” said DiPietro. The findings may be important for others including pregnant women who are at risk of gestational diabetes.  And if you overindulged in a meal, going for a brisk walk may help your body get rid of that excess sugar more efficiently.Laurie Tarkan is an award-winning health journalist whose work appears in the New York Times, among other national magazines and websites. She has authored several health books, including “Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility.” Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/walking-after-meals-may-reduce-diabetes-risk/

Most childhood cancer survivors have health problems in adulthood

Nearly all childhood cancer survivors have at least one chronic health condition by the time they reach middle age, a new study suggests. In the study, 95 percent of childhood cancer survivors had a chronic health problem such as hearing loss, heart valve abnormalities, lung problems, memory problems or new cancers by age 45. (For comparison, about 38 percent of adults in the general population who are ages 35 to 64 have at least one chronic health condition). While some cancer survivors in the study had no symptoms from these problems, about 80 percent had a life-threatening, serious or disabling condition, the study found. Considering that participants in the study were relatively young (the average age was 32), the prevalence of disorders typically associated with old age was particularly striking, researchers said. Those disorders include cataracts (15 percent), nerve pain (20 percent) and cognitive impairment (35 percent). These findings suggest that in some cases, cancer treatment may accelerate aging, the researchers said. The findings underscore the need for doctors to monitor childhood cancer survivors for conditions that could cause significant health problems if not detected early, the researchers said. Physicians should check for new cancers, heart disease and additional problems that can be improved with treatment, such as vision deficits. Childhood cancer survivors should be aware of the treatment they had when they were younger so that their doctors can order appropriate screening tests, said study researcher Kirsten Ness, of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Some survivors may be able to reduce their risk of certain health conditions. For instance, cancer survivors who are at risk for high blood pressure or blood fat levels may be able to reduce their risk of these conditions by following a healthy lifestyle (eating healthy foods, exercising and not smoking), Ness said. Childhood cancer, adult health Some cancer treatments may increase the risk of adult health problems because the treatments damage normal tissue in addition to cancer cells, Ness said. Most previous studies of childhood cancer survivors asked participants about their health problems, but did not evaluate them with a medical exam. These studies thus likely underestimated the prevalence of chronic conditions. In the new study, 1,713 childhood cancer survivors underwent a battery of medical tests such as measurements of blood pressure, blood glucose levels, resting heart rate, heart electrical activity and thyroid function. Some participants, who were considered “at risk” for certain conditions because of the type of cancer treatment they had received in childhood, were also screened with more specific tests, such as mammograms to detect breast cancer among women who underwent chest radiation. In these “at risk” survivors, lung problems were diagnosed in 65 percent of patients, hormone problems involving the hypothalamus and pituitary gland were diagnosed in 61 percent, heart abnormalities were diagnosed in 56 percent, and cognitive impairment, including memory problems, was diagnosed in 48 percent. Participants were survivors of childhood leukemia, lymphoma and tumors of the brain, bone and other organs. Future research Not all of the health problems detected by the tests were noticeable in everyday life. For instance, although tests showed that leukemia survivors who had received radiation experienced impaired memory, their ability to hold a job and carry out daily activities was not affected. Future research will be needed to examine how this problem, and other problems that don't show symptoms, progress over time, the researchers said. Additional studies should attempt to determine which factors predispose childhood cancer survivors to the conditions seen in the study, the researchers said. The study was published June 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/11/most-childhood-cancer-survivors-have-health-problems-in-adulthood/

4 ways to keep yourself young

Everyone wants the secret to living longer. But, guess what? There isn’t just one way to prevent aging. Here are some tips that may help keep you young. 1. Always wear sunscreen. Applying it daily will reduce the sun’s harmful effects on your skin – and make you appear younger. Use a product that has UVA and UVB protection. This will ensure you are blocking out both the cancer-causing and aging rays. 2. Try to eat a Mediterranean diet.  Consuming vegetables, olive oil, fish and wine – in moderation – has been shown to slow an aging mind. This type of nutrition is also linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. 3. Exercise in order to stay sharp. Doing crossword puzzles, reading and catching up with friends will work your brain muscles. Don’t forget to incorporate some physical activity into your day as well. 4. Reduce stress. Deep breathing exercises, such as yoga, or even a change of pace, can help. Keeping your anxiety at bay will ward off signs of aging. If you are stressed, you will look and feel much older.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/07/25/4-ways-to-keep-yourself-young/

Sugary drinks tied to kidney stone risk

Adults who drink at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day are slightly more likely to develop kidney stones than people who rarely imbibe them, according to a new study. While the recommendation for kidney stone prevention has been to drink a lot of fluids, the study suggests that it's not just the amount of fluid but the type of drink that also matters. Dr. Gary Curhan, the senior author of the study, said patients often ask for dietary advice to help prevent kidney stones. While the recommendation has been to drink plenty of fluids, Curhan said, patients often ask, “what should I drink? There's a lot of lore out there.” To see whether the type of beverage might matter, Curhan, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and his colleagues collected data from three massive surveys of nearly 200,000 people. The questionnaires surveyed participants every two to four years and asked about diet, lifestyle and health, including how much they drank certain beverages and whether they developed kidney stones. None of the people in the study had kidney stones at the start. They found that 159 out of every 100,000 people who drank a sugar-sweetened non-cola beverage, such as clear soda, less than once a week developed kidney stones, compared to 306 out of every 100,000 who drank soda daily. After accounting for other factors, that translated to a 33 percent greater chance of developing kidney stones. Frequent punch drinkers also had an 18 percent higher chance of developing kidney stones. For every 100,000 people who drank punch at least every day, 226 developed kidney stones, compared to 158 out of every 100,000 participants who had punch less than once a week. Curhan said that while the numbers of people developing kidney stones in each group are not enormously different, the increased risk spread across an entire population is quite big. “Sodas are so commonly used that even though the absolute rate doesn't look that different, if there's a huge number of people consuming it, then the magnitude on the public health can be quite substantial,” Curhan told Reuters Health. Other drinks, such as coffee, tea, wine, beer and orange juice were tied to a lower risk of developing kidney stones. For instance, 205 out of every 100,000 people who rarely drank coffee developed kidney stones, compared to 137 out of every 100,000 people who drank it daily. Just 96 out of every 100,000 people who drank red wine daily developed kidney stones, while 174 out of every 100,000 people who drank red wine less than once a week developed kidney stones. Curhan's study, published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, follows others showing a link between stones and fructose, non-dairy calcium, vitamin C supplements and other factors. The new study doesn't prove cause-and-effect between certain drinks and kidney stones, but it's possible that sugar could be involved, Curhan said, because it might play a role in how the body handles calcium. Another possibility is that sugary drinks might be contributing to obesity, and obesity is also tied to a higher kidney stone risk, said Dr. Elaine Worcester, a professor at the University of Chicago, who was not part of the study. Despite the lack of proof of a cause-effect relationship, Worcester said “these kinds of studies are the best we have to give advice to our patients.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/23/sugary-drinks-tied-to-kidney-stone-risk/

Angelina Jolie’s surgery: What you need to know about breast reconstruction

As more women are learning about the heroic steps that Angelina Jolie took when she decided to undergo a prophylactic mastectomy, I’ve received many questions regarding the surgical techniques used in these reconstructions and how they have improved. We spoke to leading reconstructive surgeon Dr. Richard Winters, vice chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, about the latest techniques. Once a woman decides to have this surgery, what are her options? …