A Journal of Urology trial gave 20 subjects potassium-magnesium citrate or placebo through five weeks of strict bed rest, a known stone risk. The treated group showed lower calcium oxalate saturation and less undissociated uric acid; the report gives no stone counts for either group.
Food Consumer
Supplements
CoQ10 may help cognitive decline in postmenopausal women
Female mice showed marked cognitive decline four weeks after their ovaries were removed, along with weakened mitochondrial enzyme activity and higher oxidative stress. Oral CoQ10 at 10 mg per kg for four weeks reversed those deficits in this surgically induced model of menopause.
Miscellaneous
FOX SOLUTIONS™ CREATES INDUSTRY SOLUTION WITH THE POUCH BAGGER
Fox Solutions released a stainless steel Pouch Bagger built for fresh produce. The servo-driven machine fills bags more precisely than belt- or gear-driven models, uses a rotary bag changer that handles several bags at once, and allows tool-free changeover between bag sizes.
Supplements
L-arginine may help breast cancer
A BMC Cancer study found that L-arginine supplementation slowed tumor growth, prolonged survival and cut myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mice with mammary tumors, which the authors attribute to stronger innate and adaptive immune responses. The work was done in rodents, not people.
Nutrition
B vitamins help Alzheimer's disease
In a study led by David Smith at Oxford, B vitamins helped preserve memory and cognition in early-stage Alzheimer's patients only when omega-3 levels were high: among those, a third worsened over two years versus 59 percent on placebo. B vitamins did not help when omega-3 levels were low.
Diabetes
Fenugreek helps diabetes mellitus
Over 12 weeks, 30 people with type 2 diabetes took 500 mg of metformin plus one gram of fenugreek seed powder three times daily while 30 took metformin alone. Both groups improved fasting and postprandial blood sugar and HbA1c, but the fenugreek group improved more.
Food
Believe it or not, baking soda fights cancer
An eLife study from Zhejiang University reports that adding sodium bicarbonate to Tila-Tace improved all treated liver cancer patients, against about 40% responding to Tila-Tace alone, and cut viable tumour residue 93% versus 55%. Mean survival ran over three years against half a year.
Chemical
What is Datem in bread?
Datem — diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerides — strengthens bread dough and stabilizes texture in foods from biscuits to ice cream, at 0.375% to 0.5%. It is approved in the U.S. and Europe, though some animal studies showed heart muscle fibrosis and adrenal overgrowth.
Politics
Proposed mergers by biotechnology firms could result in cotton seed price surge
A Texas A&M Agricultural and Food Policy Center study, presented at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, projects the proposed Dow-DuPont and Monsanto-Bayer mergers would sharply raise cotton seed prices and slightly raise corn and soybean seed prices, potentially reaching consumers.
Vitamins
Dietary antioxidants reduce risk of ischemic stroke
Among 34,555 people in the Swedish National March Cohort, women in the highest quartile of dietary nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity were 27% less likely to have a stroke and 35% less likely to have an ischemic stroke. No benefit appeared in men or for hemorrhagic stroke.
Vitamins
Study reveals how vitamin D protects against prostate cancer
Stanford researchers report that calcitriol lowers expression of the COX-2 gene and raises expression of 15-PGDH, reducing levels of prostaglandins that promote prostate cancer growth. They suggest pairing it with NSAIDs that inhibit COX activity.
Supplements
Mistletoe extracts may be used to treat various cancers
A case report in the Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases describes a 78-year-old man whose inoperable high-grade dysplasia colon adenoma disappeared eight months after two injections of Viscum album (European mistletoe) extract into the tumor.
Environment
Lead. PFOA. Atrazine - Newsletter 092216 from EWG
A fundraising letter from EWG citing its new analysis that cancer-causing chromium-6 contaminates water supplies serving more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states, and asking for donations to finish a national drinking water contaminant database.
Food
Food News: Vegan USA LLC offers new dishes under the brand Vegetarian Plus
Vege USA promotes its Vegetarian Plus frozen entrees, among them Citrus Sparerib Cutlets, Kung Pao Chicken and Black Pepper Steaks. The company says it sources ingredients and recipes internationally, and that the products use non-GMO soy protein and carry no cholesterol or MSG.
Supplements
Curcumin may fight ovarian cancer
A Cancer Letters study by South Korean researchers reports that curcumin raised cytosolic calcium by inhibiting SERCA activity, triggering apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells but not normal cells, with the effect depending on dose and time.
Supplements
CoQ10 may fight high blood pressure
A Florida State University review of three trials found CoQ10 at 100 to 120 mg a day lowered systolic blood pressure by about 10 mmHg and diastolic by 6.6 mmHg versus placebo. The authors still decline to recommend it as an antihypertensive, citing possible bias in those studies.
Chemical
Titanium dioxide damages the brain
In rats, high doses of anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles lowered acetylcholinesterase production, raised plasma and brain interleukin-6, and increased GFAP immunoreactivity in the cerebral cortex. The authors conclude the particles can induce neuroinflammation and may be neurotoxic.
Cancer
Cancer patients should by all means avoid sugar
In a seven-year study of 317 cancer patients treated naturopathically, remission over follow-up reached 48% among those who avoided sweets against 31% among those who ate them. The authors read this as sugar lowering the odds of remission and raising the risk of death.
13770 stories