New Evidence Suggests Chocolate Lowers Stroke Risk

Posted on March 17, 2012 by wngai
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Chocolate lovers have another reason to indulge. A new study shows that consuming chocolate on a regular basis may decrease stroke risk by 20%. 

New data reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found an inverse association between chocolate consumption and total stroke and a trend in the reduction of both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. 

The study included 33,372 women enrolled in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Using a validated food-frequency questionnaire, the researchers evaluated the relationship between chocolate consumption and the risk of stroke. 

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids Protect Diabetic Patients from Having Arrhythmia and Heart Attack

Posted on March 16, 2012 by wngai
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Diabetic patients who have experienced a heart attack may get protection from future irregular heart beats and fatal heart attacks by taking daily doses of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA,ALAand EPA). 

In the study published in the journal of Diabetes Care, researchers evaluated the effect of omega-3 fatty acids in 1014 diabetic patients aged 60 to 80 years who had had a heart attack within the previous 10 years. 

Patients were assigned to one of the following treatment and were followed for 40 months.

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Pomegranate Juice Good for the Heart of Dialysis Patients

Posted on March 15, 2012 by wngai
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A new study, reported at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, found that hemodialysis patients who consumed a moderate amount of pomegranate juice for a year experienced beneficial effect on their lipid profile, their blood pressure, and the number of antihypertensive medications they required.

The study randomized hemodialysis patients to receive either 100 ml of pomegranate juice (n = 66) or an equivalent-tasting placebo (n = 35) 3 times a week for 12 months.

At the end of 12 months, all components of the lipid profile (including total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides) were improved in the pomegranate juice group but not in the placebo group.

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A Potential Cure for Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?

Posted on March 13, 2012 by wngai
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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disease in the world.  It is common in people with obesity, hyperlipidemia, and inflammation.  

Currently, there is no cure for it.  Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease might experience fatigue, pain in the upper right abdomen and weight loss.   If not treated, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease might progress from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis or even end-stage liver disease. 

Now, there is hope this group patients!!! 

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A New Method to Treat Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathic Pain

Posted on March 12, 2012 by wngai
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If you are cancer patients and have to receive chemotherapy agents such as taxanes (paclitaxol- Taxol and docetaxel-Taxotere), vinca alkaloids (vinorelbine-Navelbine) and platinum compounds (cisplatin, carboplatin – Paraplatin and oxaliplatin – Eloxatin), it is likely that you might experience chemotherapy induced neuropathic pain (CHIPN). 

These chemotherapies damage to the peripheral nervous system and can produce severe pain and gait impairment, and is often a reason for stopping chemotherapy with these agents.  Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment of CHIPN. 

Now, a small pilot study, published in Acupuncture in Medicine, reported that acupuncture may help relieve the severe pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. 

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New Hope for Patients with Advanced Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients

Posted on March 11, 2012 by wngai
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Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and women with nearly 500,000 deaths due to colorectal cancer every year.  When detected early at localized stage I, the 5-year survival rate can reach 90%. At this stage, surgical removal may be curative. 

However, only 39% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at this stage. Untreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) have median survival duration of only 5– 6 months.  Even after the treated with latest cancer agents such as cetuximab (Erbitux), bevacizumab (Avastin), irinotecan (Camptosar), 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) and leucovorin, the median survival can be extended to 3-4 years. 

Now, a new agent, regoragenib, developed by Bayer, might be able to further extend the survival of metastatic colorectal cancer patients.  

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How to Deal with Fatigue Related to Breast Cancer?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by wngai
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If you are a breast cancer survivor, there is 30% of chance that you might experience fatigue which affects your quality of life.  What can you do then? 

A small new study finds that doing yoga might help restore some lost energy. 

In the current study, investigators randomized 31 breast cancer survivors to participate in either two 90-minute Inyengar yoga classes every week or a two-hour health class once a week. 

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Eating too Much Red Meat Can Increase Your Risk of Kidney Cancer

Posted on March 9, 2012 by wngai
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If you eat lots of red meat, you might have an increase risk of developing kidney cancer.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at the dietary habits (including meat consumption) of close to 500,000U.S.adults age 50 and older and their risk of developing cancer.

The investigators found that people in the top quintile of red meat consumption (about four ounces per day) were 19% more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than those in the bottom quintile that have red meat consumption less than one ounce per day.

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Drinking Black Tea Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Posted on March 8, 2012 by wngai
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Black tea is a common source of flavonoids, which have been suggested to contribute to improve vascular health. 

Now, a small study conducted at the University of Western Australia has shown that drinking black tea three cups a day, which provided approximately 400 mg/day of polyphenols, was able to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure between 2 to 3 mm Hg. 

In this study, investigators randomized 95 men and women with a daytime systolic blood pressure between 115 and 150 mm Hg to three cups of black tea daily or to placebo. 

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An Effective Treatment to Prevent or Delay Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Posted on March 7, 2012 by wngai
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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome often presents in adolescence, with irregular menstrual cycles, acne, or too much body hair.  It is likely that PCOS develops during childhood and puberty when excessive amounts of fat are stored. That excessive weight gain overexposes the ovaries to insulin, causing them to stop ovulating and start releasing male hormones, resulting in PCOS. 

Recently, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism indicated that metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescence. 

The goal of the study was to compare the efficacy of early versus late metformin treatment to prevent adolescent PCOS in girls at high risk of developing PCOS because of a combined history of low(-normal) birth weight (LBW) and precocious pubarche (PP) – the appearance of physical and hormonal signs of pubertal development at an earlier age than is considered normal. 

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