In a University of Jena study, diabetics given 1,000 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E before exercise did not show the expected mopping up of damaging oxygen molecules; researchers suspect the supplements short-circuit the body's own response. One nutritionist calls it too early to conclude.
Food Consumer
Minerals
Selenium: The mineral miracle
The piece champions selenium, citing the journal Disease Prevention and Treatment on its action against several cancers and a 1996 University of Arizona study in which 1,300 cancer patients taking 200 mg daily for seven years were 42% less likely to have a recurrence.
Disease
Cytokine storms chief concern in current flu pandemic
With swine flu in 47 states, the piece explains why healthy young adults appear especially vulnerable: a cytokine storm, in which the immune system overreacts and roughly 150 inflammatory mediators release at once, as researchers believe happened in the 1918 Spanish flu.
Food
Eating fish helps prevent eye disease
Two Australian studies in Archives of Ophthalmology tie diet to age-related macular degeneration. In one, following 2,454 people from 1992 to 1994, eating fish once a week was associated with 31% lower risk after adjusting for age, smoking and gender.
Letter to Editor
Oprah chicken giveaway sparks farming questions
Animal advocates protested outside Oprah's Harpo Studios after she offered coupons for an estimated 40,000 free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meals, months after airing shows on factory-farm cruelty and trying a vegan diet. Mercy For Animals organized the demonstration.
Legal Actions
Cheerios warned by FDA
The FDA's May 5 warning letter told General Mills that Cheerios' cholesterol-lowering and heart-disease claims make the cereal a drug that cannot be legally marketed without an approved new drug application. General Mills says the science is not in question.
Drug
Post-surgical radiation treatment increases risk of recurrence of breast cancer
Dutch researchers tracked women irradiated after breast surgery between 1970 and 1986. Those treated at 45 or younger were more likely to develop cancer in the other breast, with the risk climbing sharply under 35, and lumpectomy patients fared worse than mastectomy patients.
Diet
Diet prescribed for high blood pressure proves a powerful foe for heart failure
Among more than 36,000 Swedish women aged 48 to 86 surveyed in Emily Levitan's study, those whose diets most closely matched the DASH pattern were 37 percent less likely to suffer heart failure. DASH is high in potassium, magnesium, produce, nuts and fiber and fairly low in fat.
Disease
One cough equals 20,000 viruses
Researchers at Singapore's National University Hospital estimate that a single cough produces about 3,000 airborne droplets carrying roughly 195 to 19,500 influenza viruses. The CDC advises covering coughs with a tissue, or the upper sleeve rather than the hands.
Drug
HRT confirmed to increase heart attack risk in women
US heart attacks have fallen since the 2002 Women's Health Initiative warning drove HRT use among women aged 50-59 from 30 percent to under 15 percent, by RAND's count 25 fewer per 10,000 a year. Cardiologist Nieca Goldberg says it is premature to credit HRT's decline alone.
Vitamins
Folic acid linked to reduced risk of preemie births
A University of Texas study of 35,000 women found those taking folic acid for a full year before conception were 50 percent less likely to deliver before 37 weeks, 70 percent less likely to have a spontaneous birth at 20 to 28 weeks and 50 percent less likely at 28 to 32 weeks.
Drug
Acupuncture effective in treating back and joint pain
In a 638-patient trial led by Daniel Cherkin, both real acupuncture and a toothpick sham beat usual care for chronic back pain, and the two groups improved equally. A German knee arthritis study found 50 percent improved with needling versus 40 percent with sham.
Minerals
CSPI: Restaurants serve meals high in salt
CSPI told the Senate Finance Committee that 85 of 102 meals it checked at 17 chain restaurants carried more than a day's worth of salt, some nearly four days' worth. Red Lobster's Admirals Feast topped the list at 7,106 mg, against a recommended 2,300 mg daily limit.
Nutrition
Alcohol Responsible for 1 in Every 4 Cases of Dementia
Writing in Alcohol and Alcoholism, Jane Marshall and Irene Guerrini estimate one in four dementia cases may be attributable to alcohol abuse, with women especially at risk. Other researchers cited hold that moderate drinking is linked to lower Alzheimer's and vascular dementia risk.
Drug
Rogue genes may help high blood pressure treatment
Two British studies in Nature Genetics identified 13 genes linked to blood pressure, some affecting salt levels and others the relaxation of blood vessels. Researchers say the variants, carried by almost half the population, could raise heart attack risk by over 20 percent.
Lifestyle
Massage after exercise impairs blood flow
Queen's University researchers report that massage after exercise impairs blood flow to the muscle and so hinders lactic acid removal, the opposite of what physical therapists commonly assume. They call theirs the first study to rigorously test the claim.
Disease
Kidney disease may raise cancer risk
Australian researchers tracked 3,049 people aged 49 to 97 for a decade and found 23 per 1,000 men with chronic kidney disease developed lung or urinary tract cancer, against 17 per 1,000 without it. The association did not appear in women.
Disease
Taiwan confirms 2 cases of swine flu
Taiwan's Disease Control and Prevention Administration reported two H1N1 cases on May 11: a 39-year-old woman and her 21-month-old daughter who arrived from the United States on May 5. Both were isolated in Taipei, and nine other people were under medical observation.
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