In a study of 25 college-aged men who cycled for 30 minutes, those given 5 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight reported a moderate reduction in quadriceps pain against placebo. The researcher says more work is needed beyond this group.
Food Consumer
Healthcare
Medical errors common in hospitals
A HealthGrades study of Medicare patients at 5,000 hospitals counted more than 900,000 patient safety events from 2005 to 2007 — one every 1.7 minutes — and 97,755 in-hospital deaths among affected patients, plus $6.9 billion in wasted cost. Seven of 15 indicators worsened.
Obesity
Replacing soft drinks with water may equal weight loss
A Dutch study found teens who swapped sugary drinks for water did not compensate by eating more snacks. In a USC study of 54 overweight Latino adolescents, those who cut back on sweet drinks had healthier blood sugar, and many also ate more fiber and lost visceral fat.
Vitamins
Vitamin D theory of autism
Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council sets out his theory that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy or childhood causes autism, arguing it fits the rise in cases alongside sun avoidance and the patterns among twins, boys and black children. He calls it an unproven but disprovable theory.
Chemical
Cancer-causing toxins detected in fluoride chemicals
CDC data show arsenic in 43 percent of 245 water fluoridation chemical samples taken from 2000 to 2006, copper in 3 percent, lead in 2 percent, and barium, chromium, mercury, selenium or thallium in under 1 percent. The EPA sets its arsenic goal for water at zero.
Sci-Tech
Helping fruit fight back
ARS computational biologist Angela Baldo found 75 disease resistance gene markers in red raspberry, one of them linked to Phytophthora root rot, and helped identify 90 more in sweet and sour cherry cultivars. Most raspberry markers were unique to the fruit.
Alerts
Pistachio recall expanded
Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella has expanded its voluntary recall as the FDA and California health officials continue investigating Salmonella contamination in pistachio products. The FDA points consumers to its searchable database of affected products.
Others
Cinco de Mayp kicks off California Avocado season (PR)
A press release from the California Avocado Commission marking the start of the state's avocado season, estimating 51.2 million pounds will be eaten over Cinco de Mayo and promoting two recipes from chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.
Supplements
Grape seed extract the new cure for leukemia?
Researchers at the University of Kentucky and China's Third Military Medical University report that 76 percent of leukemia cells died within 24 hours of exposure to grape seed extract, with higher doses having greater effect. Lead author Xianglin Shi says it is too early to claim prevention.
Politics
More about the hogs on HBO's "Death On A Factory Farm"
The HBO documentary shows a Creston, Ohio hog farmer hanging a sow from a front loader as a form of euthanasia; a court found him not guilty of cruelty. An undercover investigator says farmhands gave pigs two differently labeled vaccines interchangeably, one only sterile diluent.
Diet
High-fat diet helps control epileptic seizures
A tightly regimented ketogenic diet of whipping cream, butter and oil cut seizures by as much as 90 percent in half of 43 epileptic children at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Dr. Mary Zupanc warns it cannot be tried without close medical monitoring and precise supplementation.
Diet
Broccoli cuts stomach cancer risk
Fifty Japanese volunteers ate 2.5 ounces of broccoli or alfalfa sprouts daily for two months; the broccoli group's H. pylori colonization fell 40 percent while alfalfa showed no change. Levels rebounded after people stopped, and the bacteria were never fully eradicated.
Minerals
Iron: the new cancer killer?
German Research Center scientists report that flooding lymphoma cells with iron sets off free radicals and oxidative stress severe enough to kill them. With Mannheim University Hospitals they studied the approach in Sezary's disease and in lymphomas that resist other treatment.
Drug
Benefits of mammograms overestimated
Brothers James and John Keen report in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making that only about 5 percent of mammograms save lives, against the American Cancer Society's 15 percent, and that 2,970 women must be screened over 15 years to save one life.
Sci-Tech
Studies reveal how plants Pprotect us from disease
ARS molecular biologist Daniel Hwang is tracing how phytochemicals from red wine, green tea, garlic, curcumin and cinnamon blunt inflammation. In cultured cells they interfered with signals from TLR and NOD proteins that would otherwise reach and activate inflammatory genes.
Legal Actions
Are you eating quality eggs of New England?
Maine agriculture officials and state police searched Quality Egg of New England in Turner under a warrant, spending eight hours gathering photos, video and birds as evidence from barns holding 3 million laying hens. Supermarkets named as buyers denied dealing with the farm.
Nutrition
Grape seed extract helps prevent obesity
Hamsters at the University of Montpellier fed a high-fat diet plus Chardonnay grape seed extract for 12 weeks did not gain the abdominal fat seen in high-fat controls, and were partly spared rises in blood sugar, triglycerides, insulin and insulin resistance.
Vitamins
CoQ10 prevents pre-eclampsia in pregnant women
In an Ecuadorian placebo-controlled trial, pregnant women took 200 mg of CoQ10 daily from 20 weeks' gestation; pre-eclampsia occurred in 14 percent of them against 25.6 percent on placebo. Researchers say more study is needed to explain how the antioxidant helps.
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