Post by seymour on Aug 11, 2007 13:33:47 GMT -5
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Coffee, Exercise Fight Skin Cancer
2. Post-Prostate Surgery Advice — Use It or Lose It
3. Grape Juice May Protect Against Breast Cancer
4. Statins Don’t Protect Against Prostate Cancer
5. 'Fat' Hormone Sheds Light on Obesity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Coffee, Exercise Fight Skin Cancer
Coffee is quickly rising from the rank of nutritional “bad boy” to super-nutrient star status. A new study shows that a double espresso daily combined with exercise can prevent skin cancer.
It joins other studies that show coffee helps keep a myriad of diseases, including diabetes, colon cancer, Parkinson’s, and liver cancer at bay, while protecting the memory of older women.
The study at Rutger’s University in New Jersey divided hairless mice into four groups. One group drank caffeinated water that was the equivalent of two cups of coffee daily. The second group ran on a running wheel the equivalent of a person running between two and two and a half miles daily.
The third group drank caffeinated water and exercised while the fourth group, which was the control group, did neither. All mice were exposed to lamps that generated enough UVB radiation to damage the DNA of skin cells.
Researchers discovered that the group of mice that drank caffeinated water and exercised killed off damaged cells — those that would potentially lead to skin cancer — best of all. The mice that drank caffeine water only killed off damaged skin cells 96 percent better than the control group, and the exercise-only group killed off damaged cells 120 percent better. But the group that both drank caffeine and exercised killed off almost 400 percent more damaged cells.
Regardless, people should still take care to protect themselves against the damaging rays of the sun. “You should not give up the sunblock,” said Dr. Allan H. Conney, senior author of the study. It’s the only proven way, say experts, to protect yourself from the damaging rays of the sun that can lead to skin cancer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Post Prostate Surgery Advice — Use It or Lose It
Erectile dysfunction after surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy) has traditionally been attributed to nerve damage that theoretically should heal over time. But it can take as long as two years for the nerves to recover enough for a man to have an erection without the aid of drugs or devices. By that time, other damage may have occurred, according to an article in the latest issue of Perspectives on Prostate Disease.
The Harvard Medical School bulletin notes that when the penis is flaccid for long periods of time, it is deprived of a lot of oxygen-rich blood. Recent research suggests that this low oxygen level causes some muscle cells in the penis's erectile tissue to lose their flexibility. The tissue gradually becomes more like scar tissue, interfering with the penis's ability to expand when it's filled with blood.
Therefore, the traditional advice given to men — to wait for erectile function to return on its own — may not be adequate. Simply put, erections seem to work on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.
To prevent the secondary damage that may occur if the penis goes too long without erections, researchers now think it's better to restore erectile function soon after prostate removal. Treatment options include using a vacuum pump device or taking erectile dysfunction drugs by mouth or by injection into the penis.
According to Dr. Marc Garnick, editor in chief of Perspectives on Prostate Disease and a Harvard oncologist, "Although the evidence supporting this ‘penile rehabilitation' isn't perfect, you may want to ask your doctor about the options. Such early intervention may help increase the odds that you will regain erectile function."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Grape Juice May Protect Against Breast Cancer
Every three minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. While factors like age and heredity contribute significantly to a woman's likelihood of contracting this disease, lifestyle and nutrition choices may also play a role.
One dietary choice that may help provide protection against breast cancer is a glass of 100 percent grape juice made from deep purple Concord grapes.
According to a new study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Foods, natural compounds in Concord grape juice protected healthy human breast cells from DNA damage. Healthy human breast cells were exposed in a test tube to an environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, that is able to initiate a chain of events leading to breast cancer. However, the introduction of Concord grape juice compounds blocked the connection of the carcinogen to the DNA of the healthy cells.
"The purple grape compounds demonstrated the capacity to inhibit DNA adduct formation as well as to increase the activity of enzymes that metabolize and detoxify carcinogens, and suppress potentially cancer-causing oxidative stress," said Dr. Keith Singletary, nutrition professor and lead researcher at the University of Illinois. "These new data suggest that anthocyanins present in Concord grape juice, as well as some other fruits and juices, warrant further study for their breast cancer chemopreventive potential."
This research is the latest to suggest that Concord grape juice may be of value in maintaining breast health by suppressing oxidative stress and inhibiting DNA damage to cells that can lead to the initiation of cancer, or in helping to slow the progression of breast cancer by slowing the multiplication of cancer cells.
Diets high in natural antioxidants have been associated with a reduced risk of some types of cancers, and Welch's 100% Grape Juice made from Concord grapes is particularly high in anthocyanins, potent natural antioxidants that give the juice its characteristic deep purple color.
At the same time, drinking Concord grape juice can be good for the heart — much like red wine. And so, with the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer causing concern for some women, drinking 100 percent grape juice made from Concord grapes can help your heart and perhaps your breast health.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Statins Don't Protect Against Prostate Cancer
A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins — a top-selling drug class, worldwide — might cut one's risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth.
Researchers from the New England Research Institutes found that while men using statins did indeed have lower blood levels of androgens such as testosterone, it was more likely attributable to poor health rather than the use of statins. Their findings are published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"The public health significance is that our study provides evidence that statins may not have a clinically meaningful impact on testosterone in the blood, although further studies should be done," said study author, Susan A. Hall, Ph.D., a research scientist at the New England Research Institutes. "That doesn't mean that statins may be lowering prostate cancer risk through one or more alternative pathways, but it doesn't appear to be working through reduction of male hormones.
Statins lower cholesterol and are commonly prescribed to treat and prevent heart disease. Since cholesterol is required for the production of male hormones, researchers have theorized that statins may reduce production of these hormones.
A large, recent study found that men using statin drugs were at lowered risk of developing metastatic or fatal prostate cancer, especially if the drugs were used over a long period of time. But other studies on statin use and prostate cancer risk have had mixed results, according to Hall.
To study a narrow question — whether statin use reduces androgen concentrations in the blood — the researchers examined data from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey, a population-based, NIH-sponsored, epidemiologic study. Data were collected between 2002 and 2005 on thousands of men and women with equal representation of African American, Caucasian and Hispanic populations.
The value of the BACH study, according to Hall, is that "we capture real-world use of medications in the community, which might be a more realistic representation of their impact on the body, compared to outcomes seen in a clinical trial."
Hall's team studied the medical histories of 1,812 men, including 237 statin users, and analyzed their blood for "free" or unbound testosterone, for total testosterone, and for other associated compounds.
The researchers found no relationship between statin use and free testosterone and most of the other associated compounds. There was a significant association between statin use and level of total testosterone in the blood, but that association vanished when researchers considered the patients' age, body weight, and history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. "We know that men with higher body mass index, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease tend to have lower testosterone levels, and this largely accounted for the drop in testosterone in statin users," Hall said.
"In this study, statin use was just a marker for presence of other illnesses," she said. "This study may inform that debate, however, by suggesting that any protective pathway offered by statins, if it exists, is not through androgen suppression."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. 'Fat' Hormone Sheds Light on Obesity
The hormone that tells us we are full also regulates our desire for certain foods, researchers said on Thursday, in a finding that sheds light on why people gain weight and could lead to new treatments for obesity.
The study showed that patients with a rare genetic disorder who lacked the hormone called leptin ate less after receiving injections of the hormone, said I.S. Farooqi, a researcher at Cambridge University who led the study.
Previous research has shown the hormone does not help people with normal leptin levels lose weight, but scientists still do not completely understand how it works, Farooqi said.
"By studying patients who have no leptin and then treating them with leptin, we can tell what it is doing," Farooqi said in a telephone interview. "It gives a clear look at how leptin operates in the brain."
In the study, published in the journal Science, researchers searched for "circuits" in the brain that signal when a person is hungry or full and found that they were linked to areas involved in determining the enjoyment of food.
To see how the hormone worked, the researchers showed the patients pictures of different types of food, ranging from tasty fare like chocolate cake and pizza to blander choices such as cauliflower and broccoli.
The patients with the genetic disorder — of which there are about a dozen known cases in the world — liked all types of food, ate excessively and were obese, the researchers said.
Using magnetic resonance imaging technology, the researchers tracked the patients' brain activity as they responded to the pictures and pinpointed several key areas that play an important role when it comes to a desire for food.
After the patients received leptin injections, the areas that had previously shown activity all the time at the sight of food were only active if the people had not eaten the night before, which was a normal response, Farooqi said.
It showed desire for food is driven by biology — not greed — which causes overeating and obesity, Farooqi said.
Knowing how leptin, which is produced by fat cells, triggers different parts of the brain could lead to new drugs that target obesity and help dangerously overweight people take pounds off.
"If you find those molecules that leptin triggers then you can manipulate or target them with drugs to treat obesity," Farooqi said. "The first step is to work out what leptin does and how it does it."
1. Coffee, Exercise Fight Skin Cancer
2. Post-Prostate Surgery Advice — Use It or Lose It
3. Grape Juice May Protect Against Breast Cancer
4. Statins Don’t Protect Against Prostate Cancer
5. 'Fat' Hormone Sheds Light on Obesity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Coffee, Exercise Fight Skin Cancer
Coffee is quickly rising from the rank of nutritional “bad boy” to super-nutrient star status. A new study shows that a double espresso daily combined with exercise can prevent skin cancer.
It joins other studies that show coffee helps keep a myriad of diseases, including diabetes, colon cancer, Parkinson’s, and liver cancer at bay, while protecting the memory of older women.
The study at Rutger’s University in New Jersey divided hairless mice into four groups. One group drank caffeinated water that was the equivalent of two cups of coffee daily. The second group ran on a running wheel the equivalent of a person running between two and two and a half miles daily.
The third group drank caffeinated water and exercised while the fourth group, which was the control group, did neither. All mice were exposed to lamps that generated enough UVB radiation to damage the DNA of skin cells.
Researchers discovered that the group of mice that drank caffeinated water and exercised killed off damaged cells — those that would potentially lead to skin cancer — best of all. The mice that drank caffeine water only killed off damaged skin cells 96 percent better than the control group, and the exercise-only group killed off damaged cells 120 percent better. But the group that both drank caffeine and exercised killed off almost 400 percent more damaged cells.
Regardless, people should still take care to protect themselves against the damaging rays of the sun. “You should not give up the sunblock,” said Dr. Allan H. Conney, senior author of the study. It’s the only proven way, say experts, to protect yourself from the damaging rays of the sun that can lead to skin cancer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Post Prostate Surgery Advice — Use It or Lose It
Erectile dysfunction after surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy) has traditionally been attributed to nerve damage that theoretically should heal over time. But it can take as long as two years for the nerves to recover enough for a man to have an erection without the aid of drugs or devices. By that time, other damage may have occurred, according to an article in the latest issue of Perspectives on Prostate Disease.
The Harvard Medical School bulletin notes that when the penis is flaccid for long periods of time, it is deprived of a lot of oxygen-rich blood. Recent research suggests that this low oxygen level causes some muscle cells in the penis's erectile tissue to lose their flexibility. The tissue gradually becomes more like scar tissue, interfering with the penis's ability to expand when it's filled with blood.
Therefore, the traditional advice given to men — to wait for erectile function to return on its own — may not be adequate. Simply put, erections seem to work on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.
To prevent the secondary damage that may occur if the penis goes too long without erections, researchers now think it's better to restore erectile function soon after prostate removal. Treatment options include using a vacuum pump device or taking erectile dysfunction drugs by mouth or by injection into the penis.
According to Dr. Marc Garnick, editor in chief of Perspectives on Prostate Disease and a Harvard oncologist, "Although the evidence supporting this ‘penile rehabilitation' isn't perfect, you may want to ask your doctor about the options. Such early intervention may help increase the odds that you will regain erectile function."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Grape Juice May Protect Against Breast Cancer
Every three minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. While factors like age and heredity contribute significantly to a woman's likelihood of contracting this disease, lifestyle and nutrition choices may also play a role.
One dietary choice that may help provide protection against breast cancer is a glass of 100 percent grape juice made from deep purple Concord grapes.
According to a new study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Foods, natural compounds in Concord grape juice protected healthy human breast cells from DNA damage. Healthy human breast cells were exposed in a test tube to an environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, that is able to initiate a chain of events leading to breast cancer. However, the introduction of Concord grape juice compounds blocked the connection of the carcinogen to the DNA of the healthy cells.
"The purple grape compounds demonstrated the capacity to inhibit DNA adduct formation as well as to increase the activity of enzymes that metabolize and detoxify carcinogens, and suppress potentially cancer-causing oxidative stress," said Dr. Keith Singletary, nutrition professor and lead researcher at the University of Illinois. "These new data suggest that anthocyanins present in Concord grape juice, as well as some other fruits and juices, warrant further study for their breast cancer chemopreventive potential."
This research is the latest to suggest that Concord grape juice may be of value in maintaining breast health by suppressing oxidative stress and inhibiting DNA damage to cells that can lead to the initiation of cancer, or in helping to slow the progression of breast cancer by slowing the multiplication of cancer cells.
Diets high in natural antioxidants have been associated with a reduced risk of some types of cancers, and Welch's 100% Grape Juice made from Concord grapes is particularly high in anthocyanins, potent natural antioxidants that give the juice its characteristic deep purple color.
At the same time, drinking Concord grape juice can be good for the heart — much like red wine. And so, with the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer causing concern for some women, drinking 100 percent grape juice made from Concord grapes can help your heart and perhaps your breast health.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Statins Don't Protect Against Prostate Cancer
A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins — a top-selling drug class, worldwide — might cut one's risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth.
Researchers from the New England Research Institutes found that while men using statins did indeed have lower blood levels of androgens such as testosterone, it was more likely attributable to poor health rather than the use of statins. Their findings are published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"The public health significance is that our study provides evidence that statins may not have a clinically meaningful impact on testosterone in the blood, although further studies should be done," said study author, Susan A. Hall, Ph.D., a research scientist at the New England Research Institutes. "That doesn't mean that statins may be lowering prostate cancer risk through one or more alternative pathways, but it doesn't appear to be working through reduction of male hormones.
Statins lower cholesterol and are commonly prescribed to treat and prevent heart disease. Since cholesterol is required for the production of male hormones, researchers have theorized that statins may reduce production of these hormones.
A large, recent study found that men using statin drugs were at lowered risk of developing metastatic or fatal prostate cancer, especially if the drugs were used over a long period of time. But other studies on statin use and prostate cancer risk have had mixed results, according to Hall.
To study a narrow question — whether statin use reduces androgen concentrations in the blood — the researchers examined data from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey, a population-based, NIH-sponsored, epidemiologic study. Data were collected between 2002 and 2005 on thousands of men and women with equal representation of African American, Caucasian and Hispanic populations.
The value of the BACH study, according to Hall, is that "we capture real-world use of medications in the community, which might be a more realistic representation of their impact on the body, compared to outcomes seen in a clinical trial."
Hall's team studied the medical histories of 1,812 men, including 237 statin users, and analyzed their blood for "free" or unbound testosterone, for total testosterone, and for other associated compounds.
The researchers found no relationship between statin use and free testosterone and most of the other associated compounds. There was a significant association between statin use and level of total testosterone in the blood, but that association vanished when researchers considered the patients' age, body weight, and history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. "We know that men with higher body mass index, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease tend to have lower testosterone levels, and this largely accounted for the drop in testosterone in statin users," Hall said.
"In this study, statin use was just a marker for presence of other illnesses," she said. "This study may inform that debate, however, by suggesting that any protective pathway offered by statins, if it exists, is not through androgen suppression."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. 'Fat' Hormone Sheds Light on Obesity
The hormone that tells us we are full also regulates our desire for certain foods, researchers said on Thursday, in a finding that sheds light on why people gain weight and could lead to new treatments for obesity.
The study showed that patients with a rare genetic disorder who lacked the hormone called leptin ate less after receiving injections of the hormone, said I.S. Farooqi, a researcher at Cambridge University who led the study.
Previous research has shown the hormone does not help people with normal leptin levels lose weight, but scientists still do not completely understand how it works, Farooqi said.
"By studying patients who have no leptin and then treating them with leptin, we can tell what it is doing," Farooqi said in a telephone interview. "It gives a clear look at how leptin operates in the brain."
In the study, published in the journal Science, researchers searched for "circuits" in the brain that signal when a person is hungry or full and found that they were linked to areas involved in determining the enjoyment of food.
To see how the hormone worked, the researchers showed the patients pictures of different types of food, ranging from tasty fare like chocolate cake and pizza to blander choices such as cauliflower and broccoli.
The patients with the genetic disorder — of which there are about a dozen known cases in the world — liked all types of food, ate excessively and were obese, the researchers said.
Using magnetic resonance imaging technology, the researchers tracked the patients' brain activity as they responded to the pictures and pinpointed several key areas that play an important role when it comes to a desire for food.
After the patients received leptin injections, the areas that had previously shown activity all the time at the sight of food were only active if the people had not eaten the night before, which was a normal response, Farooqi said.
It showed desire for food is driven by biology — not greed — which causes overeating and obesity, Farooqi said.
Knowing how leptin, which is produced by fat cells, triggers different parts of the brain could lead to new drugs that target obesity and help dangerously overweight people take pounds off.
"If you find those molecules that leptin triggers then you can manipulate or target them with drugs to treat obesity," Farooqi said. "The first step is to work out what leptin does and how it does it."