Pierluigi Gambetti's US prion surveillance centre has identified 16 Americans, 10 of them already dead, with a fatal dementia resembling Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Unlike known disease-causing prions, theirs break down when proteases attack. He suspects earlier cases passed as other dementias.
Section archive
Page 187 of 189
Nutrition
Vitamins, minerals, supplements, herbs and diet: the research on how what we eat shapes our health.
- All desks
- Abortion
- Accutane
- Acetaminophen
- Acid Reflux
- Acidic Foods
- Acne
- Acrylamide
- Acupuncture
- Additives
- ADHD
- Adiposity
- Advisories
- Aerobic Exercise
- Aflatoxin
- Agave
- Agent Orange
- Aging
- Agriculture
- AIDS
- Air Pollution
- Airline Passengers
- Airport
- ALA
- Alcohol
- Alcoholic Beverage
- Alerts
- Allergy
- Alli
- Aloe Vera
- ALS
- Alternative Medicine
- Aluminum
- Alzheimer's
- Amalgam
- AMD
- Ampyra
- Amygdala
- Anal Cancer
- And
- Anemia
- Angiogenesis
- Animal Protein
- Animals
- Anorexia
- Anthocyanins
- Anthrax
- Anti-Angiogenesis
- Anti-Obesity
- Antibacterial
- Antibiotic
Vitamins
Low vitamin D linked to high risk of premature death
Among 3,258 Austrian patients followed 7.7 years, those with the lowest blood vitamin D levels were about twice as likely to die of any cause, including heart disease, as those with the highest. Nearly 23 percent of participants died, most from cardiovascular causes.
Vitamins
Mother's prenatal vitamin D levels affect baby's dental health
Among 206 pregnant Manitoba women, only 21 had adequate vitamin D in the second trimester. Of 135 infants examined, 21.6 percent had enamel defects and 33.6 percent had early childhood tooth decay, and their mothers had lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy.
Phytochemicals
Resveratrol may prevent breast cancer
In laboratory tests, resveratrol at 10 umol/L, roughly the amount in a glass of red wine, suppressed the formation of estrogen-DNA adducts, an early step researchers link to breast cancer. Lead author Eleanor Rogan believes this could stop the progression before it starts.
Supplements
Fish oil, red yeast rice better than statins
A small trial assigned 74 people with high cholesterol who met statin criteria either to fish oil and red yeast rice plus a 12-week lifestyle program, or to 40 mg of simvastatin daily for three months. The authors report the supplement combination lowered LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
Nutrition
Red wine compound may help middle-aged men’s heart
In an NIA study, resveratrol mimicked some effects of calorie restriction in mice, preventing aging- and obesity-related cardiovascular decline and lowering total cholesterol, but it did not extend lifespan in mice on a standard diet. Its effects in humans remain to be studied.
Diet
Early life nutrition enhances intellectual capability in adulthood
Guatemalan children given the protein-rich supplement atole from birth to 24 months later scored higher as adults on reading comprehension and cognitive tests, a gain equal to about half a year of schooling and up to 1.2 years in girls. Published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Supplements
Oral xylitol syrup helps prevent early childhood caries
In a Marshall Islands trial, children aged 6 to 15 months took daily xylitol syrup and 76 percent finished free of tooth decay, against 48 percent of controls. The report notes side effects went unreported and that xylitol, like most sugar alcohols, can act as a laxative.
Vitamins
Newborn vitamin A reduces infant mortality
Among 15,937 newborns in rural Bangladesh, a single 50,000 IU dose of vitamin A at birth was followed by a death rate of 3.85% versus 4.51% on placebo, a 15% reduction. Researchers say more studies are needed to see whether the benefit holds elsewhere.
Food
Eat watermelon to boost men's sexual performance?
Texas A&M researchers publicized citrulline, an arginine precursor concentrated in watermelon rind, as a boost to sexual performance. The writer counters that six or seven slices plus the rind would be needed, and that arginine studies used 2 to 5 gram daily doses.
Nutrition
Could infant formulas be a risk factor for SIDS?
A review found formula-fed infants were 2.11 times as likely to die of SIDS as breastfed infants. Soy formula supplies only 60 percent of the tryptophan in human milk, and low serotonin is a known SIDS risk, though the piece stresses SIDS has many possible causes.
Food
Breastfeeding linked to a range of health benefits for infants
A review of 43 primary studies and 29 systematic reviews ties breastfeeding to lower risk of infections, asthma, obesity, diabetes, leukemia and SIDS in infants, and of type 2 diabetes, breast and ovarian cancer and depression in mothers. Most studies were observational.
Food
Study explains why broccoli fights prostate cancer
In a PLoS One study, 24 men with precancerous prostate lesions ate four extra weekly servings of broccoli or peas for a year. The broccoli group showed hundreds of changes in cancer-related genes, which the researchers offer as a possible mechanism.
Food
Drinking green tea helps prevent heart disease
A Greek study gave 14 healthy volunteers green tea, diluted caffeine or hot water and found that within 30 minutes the cells lining their blood vessels worked better, relaxing arteries and easing blood flow. Researchers credit flavonoids, which green tea carries more of than black tea.
Diet
Want to live a bit longer? Cut calorie intake!
In a one-year Saint Louis University trial, sedentary men and postmenopausal women who cut 300 to 500 calories a day ended up with lower levels of the thyroid hormone T3 than exercisers or controls, consistent with a theory that calorie restriction slows aging.
Food
Green tea reduces an important risk factor for heart disease
In a randomised trial, healthy volunteers' brachial artery dilatation rose significantly after they drank green tea, peaking at 3.9 percent after 30 minutes, while caffeine and hot water had no significant effect. Endothelial dysfunction is a key step in atherosclerosis.
Supplements
Nutrients that boost your intelligence
MIT researchers fed gerbils combinations of choline, uridine monophosphate and DHA. Those given choline with UMP and/or DHA did better at tasks such as navigating mazes, and their brains showed biochemical signs of extra synapse activity. The authors hope people respond similarly.
Food
Caffeine may help prevent MS
Mice given a daily caffeine dose equivalent to 6 to 8 cups of coffee were protected from a condition resembling multiple sclerosis. Linda Thompson's team reported that caffeine kept adenosine from binding its receptor, a step T cells need to reach the central nervous system.
3394 stories