Vitamin D 'is mental health aid'

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Vitamin D, found in fish and produced by sun exposure, can help stave off the mental decline that can affect people in old age, a study has suggested. UK and US researchers looked at 2,000 people aged 65 and over. They found that compared to those with the highest vitamin D levels, those with the lowest were more than twice as likely to have impaired understanding. "We need to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation is a cost-effective and low-risk way of reducing older people's risks of developing cognitive impairment and dementia." "Diet is known to influence dementia risk. The best way of reducing your risk of developing dementia is to maintain a balanced diet with regular exercise and frequent social interactions." "We look forward to seeing the published results of this new research to help us better understand the potential role of vitamin D in reducing risk."

Even a tiny bit of flab raises heart failure risk

clipped from www.reuters.com It comes as little surprise that obesity makes a person much more apt to get heart failure, a deadly condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood throughout the body Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, contributes to 300,000 deaths each year in the United States Conditions such as coronary artery disease and high blood pressure can leave the heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood efficiently The lean and active group had the lowest risk and the obese and inactive group had the highest risk As far as vigorous physical activity is concerned, even if somebody said they exercised one to three times per month -- which is a very low level of exercise -- they had an 18 percent reduction in the risk of heart failure after accounting for all other established risk factors The benefit of exercise in cutting heart failure risk was seen in lean, overweight and obese men, the researchers found

A guide to the research behind dieting and exercise

clipped from www.sciam.com The Science of Weight Loss If you've made shedding pounds a New Year's resolution, here's a guide to the research behind dieting and exercise Does Exercise Really Make You Healthier? We examine five claims about the benefits of weightlifting and aerobics to see which carry the most . . . weight Could a Pill Replace Exercise? Scientists have shown that a drug improves endurance in mice The Diet That Fits Analyzing metabolism for personalized nutrition Diet Diary Doubles Weight Loss Dieters who wrote down everything they ate had twice the weight loss of other people following the same diet Could We Lose Weight by Injecting Fat into Our Bellies? Eat, Exercise and Be Merry Need Fiber? Have Some Coffee Eat (Less) to Live (Longer) New Diet Drug in Battle of the Bulge Is Bone–Fat Chitchat the Key to Weight Control? More Stress Means Less Eating Fasting May Equal Calorie-Restricted Diets The biggest loser: Buying weight loss

Scientists find gene that makes cancer spread

All they have to do now is find a drug to get rid of the metastasis. Makes it sound easy. Would be a massive breakthrough.

clipped from www.abc.net.au A single gene appears to play a crucial role in deadly breast cancers, increasing the chances the cancer will spread and making it resistant to chemotherapy, US researchers said. They found people with aggressive breast cancers have abnormal genetic alterations in a gene called MTDH, and drugs that block the gene could keep local tumours from metastasising or spreading, increasing a woman's chances for survival. "Not only has a new metastasis gene been identified, but this also is one of a few such genes for which the exact mode of action has been elucidated," Dr Michael Reiss, of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, said. "That gives us a real shot at developing a drug that will inhibit metastasis." Stopping cancer's spread is important - while more than 98 per cent of patients with breast cancer that has not spread live five years or more, only 27 per cent of patients whose cancer has spread to other organs survive.

Confessions of a pharmacist

clipped from www.naturalnews.com Confessions of a pharmacist: What Big Pharma Won't Tell You about Prescription Drug Safety (Book Review) January 06, 2009 by: Mike Adams (NaturalNews) Pharmacists are walking encyclopedias of knowledge about the dangers of drugs, but most of them follow a pro-Pharma agenda, so they never reveal the deadly truth about how dangerous these drugs can really be to your health. There's only one pharmacist I've ever met who dares to think outside the Big Pharma pill box and tell patients the truth about how they can avoid the dangerous side effects of drugs and even learn how to replace dangerous prescription drugs with safe, natural and far more affordable health supplements. Her name? Suzy Cohen. She's the author of the new book Drug Muggers, published directly by Truth Publishing at: http://www.truthpublishing.com/product_...