NOV 15th HealthyLife.Net Health News Super Segment

If you couldn't listen to last Tuesday's health super segment at 7am and 7pm PT (and all day on archives)here's some of what you missed...

A recent study investigated the relationship between vitamin D status and breast cancer. The study included 636 women who had been diagnosed with incident breast cancer and 1,272 matched controls. The results revealed a decreased risk of breast cancer with increased levels of vitamin D. Researchers also found a significant inverse relationship in women under 53 years of age. Premenopausal women with high serum vitamin D levels had a reduced risk of breast cancer, although not significantly. These findings suggest that high vitamin D levels reduce the risk of developing breast cancer especially in younger women, although further studies are necessary to confirm these results.

A study conducted at the University of California-Davis investigated whether the use of commercial vegetable juice was an effective way to increase daily intake of vegetables in adults. Consumption of vegetable juice helped the participants reach the recommended daily intake. The results also revealed that the subjects who were pre-hypertensive at the start of the study showed significant decreases in blood pressure over the course of the study. These findings suggest that drinking one to two cups of vegetable juice per day is an effective way to fill the daily vegetable dietary gap for healthy adults and it may also reduce blood pressure in pre-hypertensive adults.

Researchers decided to investigate the effectiveness of ginger as an additional antiemetic therapy in patients receiving chemotherapy. The scientists of this double-blind study randomly assigned patients with bone cancer to either ginger root powder capsules or placebo capsules. The study published in Pediatrics and Cancer found that ginger root powder was effective in reducing severity of nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy.

A study published in the the British Journal of Dermatology has found that lycopene may help prevent UltraViolet Ray skin damage by consumption of lycopene-rich tomatoes.

Parents and caregivers can take steps to reduce the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) during the colder months, when infants are at higher risk. These include avoiding overheating an infant during nap or sleep time; placing the infant on his or her back to sleep; placing infants to sleep on a firm, safety approved mattress; keeping toys, blankets, and other loose objects out of the crib, and never smoking around an infant. In cold weather, parents and caregivers often place extra blankets or clothes on infants, to keep them warm. But over bundling may cause infants to overheat, increasing their risk for SIDS.

Tune in to healthylife.net and listen to Linda Mackenzie fresh health news Tuesdays at 7am and 7pm Pacific Time and all day after 9am PT on the archive page.

HealthyLife.net Health News Super Segment

If you couldn't listen to last Tuesday's health super segment at 7am and 7pm PT (and all day on archives)here's some of what you missed...

Exposure to noise is a fact of life. At high levels, noise can damage hearing, and at lower levels it can disrupt sleep patterns, interfere with communications, and even cause accidents. A new National Academy of Engineering report characterizes the most commonly identified sources of noise, looks at efforts that have been made to reduce noise emissions, and suggests ways to decrease exposure in workplaces, schools, recreational environments, and residences. Development of noise control technology needs immediate attention, said the committee that wrote the report. America should become more competitive in the production of low-noise products, both to improve quality of life and to advance innovation. The committee recommends that the federal government explore potential engineering solutions along with changes in policy to control negative effects of noise in the workplace, in communities, and at home. These include cost-benefit analysis of noise reduction, especially for road traffic noise; improved metrics for noise control; lower limits for noise exposure in industry; “buy quiet” programs; wider use of international standards for noise emissions; airplane noise reduction technology; and noise control in public buildings. Improved cooperation between industry and government agencies, particularly the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is also called for.

An evergreen shrub, green tea has long been used worldwide as a popular beverage and a respected herbal remedy. The earliest record of green tea drinkers was around 2700 B.C. Studies suggest that green tea may help decrease some infectious diseases, tooth decay and may enhance immunity. Now findings from a recent study suggest that green tea may help aging. The results of the study found a 20 percent reduction in levels of DNA damage which may indicate that regular consumption of green tea aid in protection against damage at a genetic level and slow the aging process.

A higher rate of diabetes seen among adult Americans when compared to peers in England is explained primarily by a larger waist size rather than conventional risk factors such as obesity, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation, University College London and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. Americans carry more fat around their middle sections than the English, and that was the single factor that explained most of the higher rate of diabetes seen in the United States, especially among American women. Waist size may be the missing new risk factor. Analyzing studies about the health and lifestyles of large numbers people from the United States and England, researchers found no association between higher diabetes rates in the United States based upon conventional risk factors such as age, smoking, socio-economic status or body mass index, the commonly used ratio of height and weight that is used to measure obesity and over-weight. The higher waist size of Americans posed more risk compared to their English peers across most body mass index categories. For example, among women with normal weight, 41 percent of American women were categorized as having high waist risk compared to 9 percent of English women.

A recent study reported in the Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine sought to determine whether certain yoga postures could reduce anxiety levels and improve mood by increasing brain GABA levels. Although GABA levels have been found to be lower in people with anxiety and mood disorders, there have been no previous studies that increased GABA levels can improve anxiety and mood. Researchers found that GABA levels are lower in people suffering with anxiety and mood disorders. The study included thirty-four subjects with who were randomly placed in a yoga group or a 60 minute, 3 times a week walking program. The results revealed that the yoga group reported greater improvements in anxiety and mood when compared with the walking group. They also found that increased thalamic GABA levels ARE associated with improved mood and decreased anxiety, although further research is needed.

Humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes and each person has two copies of each gene. One is inherited from the mother and one from the father. These genes are how height, hair color, skin color, and eye color are determined, as well as, natural talents, mental abilities and susceptibility to acquire certain diseases. Now a study reported in Nature Genetics found that gene mutation may affect the risk of breast cancer. Researchers identified five gene mutations that were associated with breast cancer risk in women with BRCA 1 gene mutations. This study could be useful in determining individual breast cancer risk in women with this BRCA 1 gene mutation.