This is the most promising news I’ve seen on the possible prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. The anti-inflammatory qualities of these two natural substances appear to offer real hope, although this is an early phase report. The researchers said the macrophages that typically clear plaques in regular patients fail to do so in Alzheimer’s [...]
Archive for July, 2009
Study Suggests That Vitamin D and Curcumin Might Break Up Alzheimer’s Plaques
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2009 |
Sen. Kennedy’s Newsweek Article on Health Reform
Posted in Uncategorized on July 18, 2009 |
Well worth reading. The full article is here. A noteworthy excerpt: Nothing I’m enduring now can compare to hearing that my children were seriously ill. In 1973, when I was first fighting in the Senate for universal coverage, we learned that my 12-year-old son Teddy had bone cancer. He had to have his right leg [...]
Drug-Resistant MRSA Appearing in Retail Meats
Posted in Uncategorized on July 17, 2009 |
This is alarming news. Methicillin-resistant Staphlococcus aureus, the dreaded “super-bug,” is appearing in the American meat supply. Soon co-workers at the nearby processing plant, where hundreds of thousands of chicken carcasses are prepped daily for sale, began finding the lumps. Dean Reeves, 50, an 11-year employee, went to the hospital with an excruciating bump on her [...]
Which Aspects of Mediterranean Diet Prolong Life?
Posted in Uncategorized on July 17, 2009 |
Greek researchers have for the first time quantified the relative importance of the various aspects of the Mediterranean diet, which has attained an evidence-based reputation for enhancing health and prolonging life. Published in the July 4 issue of British Medical Journal, the team from the University of Athens concluded that the high-plant, low-meat aspects of [...]
The Limitations of Cancer Screeening
Posted in Uncategorized on July 17, 2009 |
Do routine cancer screenings do more good than harm? Today’s New York Times has an excellent feature addressing all sides of the question. If you read only one health article this week, make it this one. Nearly every body part susceptible to cancer now has an advocacy group, politician or athlete with a public awareness [...]
Cell Phones Linked to Cancer?
Posted in Uncategorized on July 16, 2009 |
The evidence is gradually accumulating, as this study from Israel adds information about a possible link to salivary gland malignancies. Within a couple of years, a major European study now underway should be available. For now, it seems best to use cell phones no more than necessary and to give preference to land lines when [...]
DASH Diet May Slow Cognitive Decline
Posted in Uncategorized on July 16, 2009 |
Aside from its well-known beneficial effects on blood pressure, the NIH-endorsed DASH diet (high in fruits and vegetables, low in salt, sweets and red meats) may also slow cognitive decline. But, as with so many things in life, it works best if you actually follow the recommendations. Heidi Wengreen, PhD, RD, assistant professor of nutrition at Utah [...]
Hormone Therapy Increases Ovarian Cancer Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on July 15, 2009 |
It has long been known that hormone therapy increases the risk of various cancers. This, combined with the Women’s Health Initiative findings several years ago that HRT also increases rates of heart disease, led the medical profession to a startling about-face starting in 2002, with the number of prescriptions for HRT dropping precipitously. In the past few [...]
Administration Seeks to Restrict Antibiotics in Livestock Feed
Posted in Uncategorized on July 14, 2009 |
The Obama Administration is seeking to drastically scale back routine antibiotic use in farmed animals, a major public health policy change. Routine use has contributed to the development of antibiotic-resistant microbes. The American Medical Association supports this proposed change while the National Pork Producers Council opposes it. The New York Times reports that agribusiness opposition will likely [...]
Pesticides and Parkinson’s Disease
Posted in Uncategorized on July 14, 2009 |
New research shows a strong correlation between blood levels of a particular pesticide (β-Hexachlorocyclohexane) and the presence of Parkinson’s Disease. β-Hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) was more often detectable in patients with PD (76%) compared with controls (40%) and patients with Alzheimer disease (30%). The median level of β-HCH was higher in patients with PD compared with controls [...]
