Archive for the ‘research’ Category
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
A study presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research concluded that a low intake of lycopene in the diet may be a risk factor for lung cancer. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and is most readily found in tomatoes.
In the study, researchers collected blood samples from 93 patients with non-small cell lung cancer and matched with 102 controls. The blood samples were tested for levels of micronutrients that included retinol, lycopene, and Beta-carotene. The found significant differences in the two groups in the level of lycopene, that is, there was much lower levels in the lung cancer patients.
After adjusting for age, race, gender, drinking and smoking habits, use of vitamin supplements, exposure at work, and the season, they found that the lung cancer group who had the lowest levels of lycopene had an almost a threefold increased risk of lung cancer than the group with the highest level of lycopene. In addition, when evaluating current smokers they found that those with the lowest levels of lycopene had four times the risk of lung cancer than those with the highest levels. The researchers concluded that although their results are preliminary they add to the growing body of research that shows a relationship between lycopene and cancer risks.
Tags: Beta-carotene, lung cancer, lycopene, micronutrients, research, retinol, tomatoes
Posted in Cancer, Uncategorized, lung cancer, nutrition, research | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
A recent study published in the Annals of Allergy. Asthma & Immunology reported that year round allergies to dogs, cats, and dust mites seem to pre-prime the immune system so that symptoms appear earlier or are more severe when confronted by rag weed. In the study researchers wanted to determine why some individuals develop symptoms during ragweed season earlier than others. Testing several perennial allergens they found that being allergic to dogs, cats or dust mites set those suffers up for a quicker onset of hay fever symptoms when exposed to ragweed. In the study 123 people were allergic to ragweed and of these 66% were positive for cat allergies, 63% were allergic to dog allergies and 73% were allergic to dust mites. All were exposed to ragweed for 3 hours and completed symptom questionnaires every 30 minutes during exposure. In general, those who tested positive for dog, cat, and dust mite allergies developed symptoms either faster or to a greater degree than those who tested negative to these. This difference seemed to disappear after 3 hours so that once the hay fever season is in full swing, the differences between the two groups no longer existed. It was suggested that to avoid the overload at the beginning of the hay fever season, sufferers with perennial allergies (dog,cat, dust) should avoid them beforehand or treat their perennial allergy symptoms before hay fever season.
Tags: allergies, cats, dogs, dust mites, hay fever, immune system, ragweed, research
Posted in research, seasonal allergies | 5 Comments »
Friday, August 27th, 2010
In a new study reported in Cell, the researchers concluded that by reversing muscle wasting (cachexia) in mice with cancer they can extend their life even as the tumor continues to grow. Nearly 30% of cancer deaths have been attributed to cachexia. Knowing that activin is secreted by tumors and another protein, myostatin, when deficient or blocked grows bigger muscles, they decided to treat mice with cancer that were exhibiting cachexia with a kind of molecular decoy that potentially prohibits both activin and myostatin thereby reversing muscle loss and extending the life of the mice by several weeks. They said “in tumor-bearing mice with profound cachexia, blocking this pathway not only prevents muscle wasting but completely reverses the loss of muscle, strength and anorexia.” Results show that by combating cachexia it may be possible to extend life of those with cancer but clinical trials and further research is needed.
Tags: activin, cachexia, muscle loss, myostatin, research
Posted in Cancer, research | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
In a report published early online that will appear in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation researchers concluded that vitamin D may be an effective treatment for preventing or treating allergy to a common mold, Aspergillus Fumigatus, that can complicate asthma. Although this fungus is one of the most prevalent it usually is not associated with diseases but in asthmatics and patients with Cystic Fibrosis it may cause significant symptoms. Focusing on patients with Cystic Fibrosis who more often develop severe allergic reactions Studying two groups of patients with cystic fibrosis they found that when colonized with A. Fumigatus only one had the severe allergic response. The difference was in the level of vitamin D in the blood. By adding vitamin D they were able to substantially reduce the production of proteins driving an allergic response and also increased the protein that promoted tolerance. A clinical trial is planned to see if vitamin D can be used to treat or prevent the allergic complications of asthma and Cystic Fibrosis.
Tags: asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, research, vitamin D
Posted in asthma, research | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 20th, 2010
A new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention concluded that the risk of breast cancer varies by personal characteristics but this study reinforced that there is an increased risk of breast cancer from hormone use and further studies are needed to address how specific that risk is. Hormone replacement therapy among 2,857 women were analyzed for almost 10 years and it was found that when compared with women who never used hormone therapy, women who used estrogen therapy for more than 15 years had a 19 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer. For those who used a combined program of estrogen and progestin for 15 or more years the risk increased 83 percent. Thus, the breast cancer risk was highest for the combined hormone therapy group.
Results also showed that breast cancer risk was dependent on body mass index (BMI) because those with a BMI under 30 seemed to have an increased risk with combined therapy and it was highest for women with a BMI under 25. On the other hand obese women with a BMI over 30 had no further risk associated with using combined hormone therapy. The risk for these breast tumors were for tumors that were positive for both estrogen and progestin receptors and were weaker for HER2 negative tumors. Further research is need to answer lingering questions for this complex association.
However, in another study published in the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research researchers found that breast cancer risk varies by the type of progestin used in hormone therapy. In the study they compared the effect of 4 progestins on breast cancer in animal models. Progestins used included 1) synthetic progestin medroxporgresterone acetate (MPA), 2) norgesterel (N-EL), 3) norethindrone (N-ONE) and 4) megestrol acetate (MGA). The MPA progestin in Prempro is most often used by women in the United States for Hormone Therapy. The authors concluded “although previous studies using an animal model for breast cancer found the MPA functions as a tumor promoter, this study showed that N-EL and N-ONE……. strongly inhibited tumor development.” Progestins seems to have tumor stage specific effects that determines whether they function as tumor promoters or protectors. Those such as N-EL and N-ONE seem to prevent breast cancer in women without a history of or family history for breast cancer and for post menopausal women who are at increased risk due to combined estrogen/progestin (MPA) hormone therapy.
Tags: breast cancer, estrogen, hormone replacement, progestin, research
Posted in breast cancer, research | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Research to be published in the American J of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and identified in Science Daily concluded that the use of acetamineophen even on a monthly basis will more than double the risk of asthma, and yearly use may increase the risk by 50% when compared to those who do not use it among 13 to 14 years old adolescents.
Two written and a video questionaire were administered to over 300,000 thirteen and fourteen year adolescents in 113 centers throughout 15 countries. They were asked to quantify their use of acetamineophen as none, medium or high depending upon using none, using once a year, or at least once in the past month. They were also asked to identify their asthma and eczema symptoms. Results show that the risk of asthma and eczema for medium users was 43% higher than non-users and for high users was 251 times the risk of non-users. In addition, the risk of rhinoconjunctivitis was 38% higher for medium users and 2.39 times higher for high users. The risk for eczema were 31 percent and 99 percent respectively. Another study to be published in the American J of Respiratory and Critical Care medicine showed similar associations. Further studies are needed to confirm this association.
Tags: acetamineophen, asthma, eczema, research
Posted in asthma, research, seasonal allergies | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
In a new study reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology researchers concluded that children living in damp, water damaged houses may be more likely to develop nasal allergies than other children. In the study that followed children over time 16 percent of the children whose parents reported dampness in the home received a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis over the next six years compared to just under 12 percent for children whose parents reported no dampness problems defined as no visible signs of water damage to the ceilings, walls or floors, and no visible mold or mold odor in the home. Factors such as social class and second hand smoke were also considered but the dampness remained linked to the risk of allergic rhinitis. In addition, children whose parents reported mold or water damage in the home at the beginning of the study were 55 percent more likely than other children to develop allergic rhinitis connected to any allergin and not just mold. The researchers concluded that parents should look out for water damage and repair as soon as it occurs.
Tags: allergic rhinitis, children, damp houses, mold, water damage
Posted in asthma, research | 2 Comments »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
In a study that appeared in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research, a peer-reviewed journal, researchers reported that pancreatic cancer cells use sugar fructose to activate a cellular pathway that drives cell division and helps the cancer cells grow more quickly. They stated “In this study, we show that cancer cells can use fructose just as readily as glucose to fuel their growth.”
The researchers used pancreatic cells from patients and cultured and grew them in petri dishes. Then they added glucose to one set of cells and fructose to another. They were able to determine what the sugars were being used for by following the carbon-labeled sugars in the cells using mass spectrometry. They found that even though the glucose and fructose sugars are similar in structure they were metabolized in very different ways. The pancreatic cancer cells used the fructose in the transketolase-driven non-oxidative pentose phoshate pathway to generate nucleic acids that are the building blocks of RNA and DNA needed by the cancer cells to divide and proliferate.
The researchers quoted an article that stated between 1970 and 1990 the consumption of fructose in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) increased over 1,000 percent in the United States. It is added to foods and beverages and is the sole sweetener used in American soft drinks. They believe there should be a federal effort to reduce the use of fructose in the United States.
Tags: fructose, pancreatic cancer, research
Posted in Cancer, Uncategorized, research | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
In a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, researchers reported that meat related compounds in the processing methods may increase the risk of bladder cancer. In this prospective study-the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study- the researchers used data gathered from 300,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 years on questionnaires that assessed the type of meat consumed, and how it was prepared and cooked. At the beginning of the study in 1995 to 1996 the subjects completed dietary and lifestyle questionnaires about their usual consumption of foods and drinks. Followed over 8 years 854 of the subjects developed bladder cancer.
Those whose diet was highest in total dietary nitrite from all sources and those who had the highest amount of nitrate and nitrite from processed meats had a 28 to 29% increased rate of developing bladder cancer compared with those who consumed the lowest amount of nitrate and nitrite. Further studies are recommended and more information is available in the original article.
Tags: bladder cancer, nitrate, nitrite, processed meat, research
Posted in Cancer, research | No Comments »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
A new study published in the online version of the journal Science Transnational Medicine concluded that it may soon be possible for some women with breast cancer to avoid invasive and toxic treatments for their disease by measuring an iron-regulating protein found to be a strong predictor of breast cancer prognosis. In their study, they found that low levels of ferroportin, the only known protein that eliminates iron from the cells, were associated with the most aggressive and recurring cancers. These findings demonstrated that it may be possible in the future to test for ferroportin levels in women with breast cancer and predict whether the cancer will return or to help women with high levels of the protein to avoid invasive and toxic treatments such as chemotherapy. In the study they found that some women with high levels of ferroportin did very well and this lead to the belief that treatment for this group may eventually be adjusted to avoid harsh chemotherapy. A series of studies including some with human breast cancer tissue were completed. Further information can be found in the online article.
Tags: breast cancer, ferroportin, research
Posted in breast cancer, research | 1 Comment »
