A survey of U.S. adults found multivitamin use fell from 37 percent in 1999-2000 to 31 percent in 2011-2012, while fish oil use rose from 1.3 percent to 12 percent and vitamin D supplementation apart from multivitamins rose from 5.1 percent to 19 percent.
Food Consumer
Herbs
Chamomile tea helps depression, sleep in postpartum women
Eighty postnatal women with poor sleep drank chamomile tea or a placebo for two weeks; the tea group scored lower for sleep inefficiency and symptoms of depression. The benefit had disappeared four weeks after the trial ended.
Drug
USPSTF recommends statin use for CVD prevention
The task force's final statement recommends a low-to-moderate dose statin for adults aged 40 to 75 with no history of cardiovascular disease who have a risk factor such as dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension or smoking plus a 10-year event risk of 10% or more. Benefit is less certain below that.
Environment
Save the rusty patched bumblebee
A petition drive urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize Endangered Species Act protection for the rusty patched bumblebee, whose abundance and distribution the agency estimates have fallen 91% since the mid-to-late 1990s. The comment docket closes in a week.
Food
Saturated fat, trans fat linked to high risk of premature death
Drawing on the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, researchers found high intakes of saturated and trans fat were tied to 9% and 13% higher all-cause death risk. Replacing 5% of energy from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat was linked to 26% lower mortality.
Disease
Stress-induced changes in maternal gut could negatively impact offspring for life
In mice, Ohio State researchers found that stress during pregnancy altered bacteria in the mothers' guts and placentas and in their female offspring's intestines into adulthood. Those offspring showed more anxiety and more trouble learning, alongside higher inflammation markers.
Food
Drinking beer good for your health - new study
Researchers who followed more than 80,000 people in China for six years found HDL cholesterol declined over time in everyone, but more slowly in beer drinkers, which they link to lower cardiovascular risk. The findings were presented as a conference poster.
Supplements
Soy protein helps men with diabetes mellitus
In 200 UK men with type 2 diabetes and low testosterone, 15 g of soy protein daily for three months left testosterone unchanged whether or not it contained isoflavones. The isoflavone version raised TSH, lowered free T4, and reduced HbA1c, HOMA-IR, triglycerides and CRP.
Disease
Study reveals role of spleen in prolonged anxiety after stress
Ohio State researchers report that in mice, white blood cells building up in the spleen after repeated social defeat appear to signal the brain and contribute to lasting anxiety, with the immune changes persisting nearly a month. The work was presented at Neuroscience 2016.
Supplements
Garcinia cambogia fights obesity, metabolic syndrome
An Indian review says hydroxycitric acid from Garcinia cambogia inhibited fat synthesis, suppressed appetite and cut body weight in earlier studies, with no adverse effects reported at up to 2,800 mg a day. The reviewers suggest it could be developed for obesity.
Supplements
Testosterone therapy helps hypogonadism in non-high-risk prostate cancer patients
A 2016 review in Sexual Medicine Reviews reports that testosterone therapy eased hypogonadism symptoms and improved quality of life in men treated for non-high-risk prostate cancer, with studies finding no increase in recurrence. Evidence for high-risk disease is less clear.
Environment
Residing near AM radio transmitters raises leukemia risk
A Korean study reports that children living within 2 km of an AM radio transmitter had double the odds of leukemia of all types compared with those more than 20 km away. Radiofrequency exposure from the transmitters was not associated with brain cancer or infantile cancer.
Environment
Smartphones can increase brain tumor risk
In a U.S. Toxicology Program study, rats exposed to GSM or CDMA radiofrequency radiation nine hours a day for two years developed malignant glioma, glial cell hyperplasia and Schwann cell tumors of the heart. Up to 3.3% of exposed males had glioma; no control rats did.
Minerals
Potassium plus ascorbic acid kill breast cancer more effectively ***
A cell-culture study in Oncology Letters found potassium bicarbonate boosted ascorbic acid's effect on breast cancer lines, with the combination producing more apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. The authors say animal work is needed to see whether the effect holds in vivo.
Minerals
Does selenium increase risk of diabetes mellitus?
A case-control study found people with the highest serum selenium were five times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes. The article cautions this need not mean selenium causes it — patients may have been taking supplements — and cites a trial where 200 ug a day improved insulin measures.
Politics
Election Day Fluoridation Results, New Interviews, & November's Teleconference
A Fluoride Action Network newsletter reports that seven Maine towns voted 66% to 34% to end fluoridation in the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport & Wells Water District, which shut off its equipment on November 9, and asks readers to help its FDA petition reach 12,000 signers.
Supplements
Chaga mushroom extract suppresses Lewis lung cancer
In mouse models of Lewis lung carcinoma, Chaga mushroom extract given at 6 mg/kg/day for three weeks cut tumor size by 50 percent and metastatic nodules by 25 percent compared with controls, suggesting a possible role in treating lung cancer and limiting spread.
Supplements
Ascorbic acid, lysine, proline and green tea extract helps ovarian cancer
In a mouse study, all 12 animals on a normal diet developed ovarian cancer, while five of six fed a mix of ascorbic acid, lysine, proline and green tea extract did not. In vitro, 250 ug/ml of the mix fully blocked MMP-9 expression and inhibited invasion in A-2780 cells.
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