Does too much protein in the diet increase cancer risk?
|
|
A great deal of research connects nutrition with cancer risk. Overweight people are at higher risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer and a certain type of esophageal cancer. Now preliminary findings from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that eating less protein may help protect against certain cancers that are not directly associated with obesity.
The research, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that lean people on a long-term, low-protein, low-calorie diet or participating in regular endurance exercise training have lower levels of plasma growth factors and certain hormones linked to cancer risk.
Diets may spur unhealthy eating in some obese kids
|
|
For some obese children, dieting may set off an unhealthy preoccupation with weight and eating, a small study suggests.
Researchers found that among obese adolescents, some of those who had tried dieting eventually developed a preoccupation with weight loss and a habit of binge-eating.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, suggest that for some heavy children, dieting can backfire.
Blacks more likely to want end-of-life intervention
|
|
Blacks are more likely than whites to want life-sustaining care at the end of life for an incurable illness or a serious physical or mental disability, a new study shows.
While more than half of black individuals surveyed said they would want life support if they had a chronic condition and were brain dead, just 11 percent of whites would want this intervention. Nearly three quarters of blacks said they would want life-sustaining care if they were terminally ill and had senile dementia, compared with 22.2 percent of whites.
Exercise or diet both lower type 2 diabetes risk
|
|
Caloric reduction and exercise-induced weight loss both substantially improve risk factors for type 2 diabetes; however, one approach does not appear to be better than the other, a study shows.
“Although diet and exercise can markedly reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, the relative contributions of exercise training and calorie restriction to these protective effects are not known,” note the researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dancing on the streets - just what the doctor ordered!
|
|
It seems plans are afoot to provide dance classes on the National Health Service in Britain in an attempt to improve the country’s fitness levels and halt a looming national obesity crisis.
According to reports street-dancing and tango classes are just a few of the ideas being considered for funding by NHS trusts and others include trampolining, boxing, skipping and organised walking classes.
‘Too thin’ women much more likely to miscarry
|
|
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England have found that being very thin and underweight might increase the risk of women miscarrying during pregnancy.
The researchers say really thin women are 72% more likely to miscarry in the first three months of pregnancy than women of normal weight.
Internet exacerbates problems of anorexia and bulimia in teens
|
|
The Internet is being blamed by researchers in the U.S. for exacerbating the problems of anorexia and bulimia in young people.
According to a new pilot study by researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, children as young as 10 are learning new weight loss or purging methods from web sites that promote eating disorders.
Researchers find that screening children for heart disease risk helps to identify parents at risk
|
|
Screening children could lead to interventions to reduce risk of disease
Screening children for risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease can help identify parents at risk for the condition, providing an opportunity for medical intervention in both children and their parents, according to research at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Researchers studied a community-based sample of 94 families - including 108 parents and 141 children - and found child/parent association was strong for cardiovascular risk factors including body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol. The study was led by Evelyn Cohen Reis, MD, a pediatrician and researcher in the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Children’s.
Pfizer shares plunge after cholesterol drug fails
|
|
Shares in Pfizer Inc fell around 14 percent in European and pre-opening U.S. trade on Monday after the world’s biggest drugmaker scrapped development of its most important experimental medicine.
Pfizer halted work on torcetrapib, which was designed to raise levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, because of increased deaths and heart problems among patients given the product in a late-stage trial.
Novo says study shows Levemir reduces body weight
|
|
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, the world’s biggest maker of insulin, said on Tuesday a new study showed its long-acting insulin Levemir reduces body weight and improves blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients.
The new data, a subanalysis of 2,377 patients from a larger multinational study, indicated that individuals taking Levemir lost 0.7 kilograms after 14 weeks, compared to a baseline.
New treatment for lower back pain using patient’s own stem cells
|
|
A University of Manchester researcher has developed a treatment for lower back pain using the patient’s own stem cells, which could replace the use of strong painkillers or surgery that can cause debilitation, neither of which addresses the underlying cause.
Dr Stephen Richardson, of the University’s Division of Regenerative Medicine in the School of Medicine (FMHS), has developed the treatment; and in collaboration with German biotechnology company Arthrokinetics and internationally-renowned spinal surgeons Spinal Foundation are hoping to enter pre-clinical trials next year. It is expected to rapidly yield a marketable product which will revolutionise treatment of long-term low back pain.
Chronic use of nicotine can reinforce the rewarding effects of alcohol
|
|
When sober alcoholics are tempted to fall off the wagon, the same receptor is stimulated as is activated by nicotine in their brain.
This has been demonstrated in a doctoral dissertation at the Sahgrenska Academy at Go"teborg University in Sweden. The discovery may lead to new treatment for alcohol abuse.
