Wednesday, October 25. 2006
Here is a very useful article from DIVINE.CA to help reduce the risk of Beast Cancer. By Ines Mey
Protect Your Breasts
One in nine Canadian women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Help reduce your risks by following these nine simple guidelines. Exercise
Fat cells produce estrogen; high levels of this hormone are believed to cause breast cancer. Working out can shrink fat cells and reduce the amount of estrogen that is produced by the body.
Even if you've been inactive most of your life, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing breast cancer by becoming active now! Health Canada recommends thirty to sixty minutes of moderate physical activity at least four days a week. So go for a run, a walk, or a bike ride. Any kind of cardio will do, as long as you are consistent with the frequency and duration of your workouts. Eat healthy Evidence shows that eating a balanced, lower-fat diet can reduce the risk of cancer. Choose lower-fat dairy products and leaner meats. Eat more whole grain products (breads and cereals); certain fibres have been shown to block estrogen’s ability to stimulate cell growth. Eat five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables—they are filled with cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Drink green tea
Spanish and British scientists have discovered that EGCG, an antioxidant found in green tea, can prevent cancer cells from growing. The exact recommended green tea intake has yet to be determined, but it appears that a cup a day may be sufficiently beneficial. Maintain a healthy weight
Extra pounds equal higher levels of estrogen. Combine exercise with a balanced, low-fat diet to maintain a healthy weight for your height. Calculate your body-mass index using divine.ca’s BMI calculator to help determine your ideal weight. Quit smoking
Although the effects of cigarette smoking are not fully understood and more research is needed, Health Canada states that there may be an association between breast cancer and tobacco smoking or breathing second-hand smoke.
Breastfeed
Breastfeeding appears to offer some women protection against breast cancer, as lactation helps suppress estrogen production. If you are a new mother, consider breastfeeding your baby. For your baby’s health, Health Canada recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first four months of life. For your health, 15 (cumulative) months of breast feeding in your lifetime can offer significant protection against breast cancer. Drink less alcohol
Evidence suggests that women who drink alcohol have a higher risk of breast cancer. The more alcohol a woman drinks, the higher her risk. Keep the boozing to a minimum and limit your intake to one alcoholic drink a day. Sleep more
Not getting enough sleep can lead to excessive estrogen production, which has been linked to breast cancer. Try getting at least eight hours of sleep a night. Increase your folic acid and vitamin B6 intake
Folic acid and vitamin B6 are important parts of our diets: they help make and repair DNA, and damaged DNA has been linked to cancer. A research from the Harvard School of Public Health has also found that a diet high in these nutrients can protect women against the increased risk of breast cancer caused by alcohol. Since alcohol interferes with the body’s ability to use folic acid, the extra folic acid seems to be most protective in women who drink. Eat plenty of dark green leafy vegetables, legumes and citrus fruits for folic acid, and meat, poultry, fish, potatoes, bananas and beans for vitamin B6. Of course, vitamin supplements can also supply these cancer fighting nutrients. _____________________________________________________________ |
Please review the information here also: http://www.wellnessforlifecenter.org/womens_health.shtml
Tuesday, October 24. 2006
Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition - Europe | |
Low selenium linked to higher risk of osteoarthritis
11/14/2005- Insufficient levels of selenium may raise the risk of knee osteoarthritis, US researchers will report tomorrow. A team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that for every additional tenth of a part per million of selenium in volunteers' bodies, there was a 15-20 per cent decrease in their risk of knee osteoarthritis. The work, based on data gathered from 940 participants, is thought to be the first to link the trace mineral to joint health. Arthritis severity was directly related to how low selenium levels were. "Our results suggest that we might be able to prevent or delay osteoarthritis of the knees and possibly other joints in some people if they are not getting enough selenium,” said study leader Dr Joanne Jordan. The findings, to be presented in San Diego tomorrow at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, could be particularly important for populations in Europe. Research published in 2002 revealed that selenium levels in British bread-making wheats are 10 to 50 times lower than in their American or Canadian counterparts, owing to reduced levels of the mineral in UK soil and lower pollution. Daily intake of the mineral is therefore often lower than the recommended amount in Britain. At the same time, incidence of osteoarthritis is rising in most developed countries in conjunction with an ageing population and obesity, a major risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee. The UK currently has the eighth highest obesity rate in the world. In the past year, more than 2 million Britons visited their GP because of osteoarthritis. The US team first suspected that selenium might play a role in preventing osteoarthritis after observing that in severely selenium-deficient areas of China, people frequently develop Kashin-Beck disease, which causes joint problems relatively early in life. They selected pariticipants in the major Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, and divided them into three groups based on the selenium levels measured in toenail clippings. Those with the highest selenium levels faced a 40 per cent lower risk of knee osteoarthritis than those in the lowest-selenium group. "Those in the highest selenium group had only about half the chance of severe osteoarthritis or disease in both knees. Some of the findings were even stronger in African-Americans and women," said Jordan. She added that there appears to be a clear relationship between selenium and osteoarthritis. The mechanism behind this link needs to be further investigated in the laboratory but the researchers believe the mineral might act as a protective antioxidant. "Later, we'll want to expand the study with larger samples and see whether selenium supplementation reduces pain or other symptoms," added Jordan. Copyright - Unless otherwise stated all contents of this web site are © 2000/2005 – Decision News Media SAS – All Rights Reserved. For permission to reproduce any contents of this web site, please email our Syndication department: contact our Syndication department. Full details for the use of materials on this site can be found in the Terms & Conditions.
AmeriSciences Men's and Women's Master Multi contain Selenium. AmeriSciences Joint Ease is an excellent product for Osetoarthritis.
I have been taking EGCG supplement capsules personally over the last few months. I have also been aggressively recommending it to my patients for potentially numerous medical benefits. Over the same period of time many of you have been similarly bombarded with information about epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from me. Now read this summary of an article from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Division of Hematology soon to be published in the journal Leukemia Research. This is really exciting stuff.
Clinical effects of oral green tea extracts in four patients with low grade B-cell malignancies.
Shanafelt TD, Lee YK, Call TG, Nowakowski GS, Dingli D, Zent CS, Kay NE.
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Green tea or its constituents have long been touted as a health promoting substance including claims it may have cancer prevention properties. We previously reported the in vitro ability of one tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), to induce apoptotic cell death in the leukemic B-cells from a majority of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). After the publication of our findings many patients with CLL and other low grade lymphomas began using over-the-counter products containing tea polyphenols despite the absence of evidence to suggest clinical benefit, definition of possible toxicities, or information on optimal dose and schedule. We have become aware of four patients with low grade B-cell malignancies seen in our clinical practice at Mayo Clinic who began, on their own initiative, oral ingestion of EGCG containing products and subsequently appeared to have an objective clinical response. Three of these four patients met criteria for partial response (PR) by standard response criteria. Although spontaneous remission/regression is occasionally observed in individuals with low grade B-cell malignancies, such events are rare. Several patients presented here had documented steady clinical, laboratory, and/or radiographic evidence of progression immediately prior to initiation of over-the-counter green tea products and then developed objective responses shortly after self-initiating this therapy. Such anecdotes highlight the need for clinical trials of tea polyphenols to define the optimal dosing, schedule, toxicities, and clinical efficacy before widespread use can be recommended. An NCI sponsored phase I/II trial of de-caffeinated green tea extracts for patients with asymptomatic, early stage CLL opened at Mayo Clinic in August 2005.
PMID: 16325256 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Sultan H. Rahaman, M.D. President Wellness for Life Center, Inc. info@wellnessforlifecenter.org
Breaking News on Food in Central & Eastern Europe | |
| Green tea extract may slow Huntington’s disease
By Stephen Daniells | 09/08/2006- The green tea extract, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), may slow the accumulation of proteins that cause Huntington’s disease, German scientists have reported.
The news adds to a growing body of science on the health benefits of green tea, with consumption linked to a lower risk of certain cancers, increased weight loss, and protection against Alzheimer's. Huntington’s disease, along with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, belong to the family of neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding. The incurable disease is hereditary and has a prevalence of 1 in every 15,000 people. In Germany, about 8,000 cases are currently known, in the UK the figure is reported to be about 5,000, and in the US the figure is about 30,000. The disease is characterize by jerky, uncontrolled movements, an unsteady gait and grimaces leading to its original common name of Huntington’s chorea (from the ancient Greek for “dance”). In 1993, scientists discovered the gene that encodes the mutant protein, the so-called huntingtin protein. A mutation in this protein results in elongation of parts of the protein called polyglutamine chains, which cause the overall huntingtin protein to lose its normal structure. These mutant proteins can not be disposed of by the body and accumulate in the brain of sufferers, eventually being toxic to the nerve cells in the brain. The new research, led by Professor Erich Wanker from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch (MDC), looked at the effect on EGCG on the aggregation of these mutant proteins in vitro, and found that the green tea extract could interfere with the very early events of this process. The research is published in the September issue journal Human Molecular Genetics (Vol. 15, pp. 2743-2751), and presented by Dagmar Ehrnhoefer this week at the international conference “Neurodegenerative diseases: molecular mechanisms in a functional genomic frameworks” in Berlin. “We demonstrate that the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) potently inhibits the aggregation of mutant huntingtin protein in a dose-dependent manner,” wrote lead author Dagmar Ehrnhoefer. Professor Wanker’s group used laboratory-based experiments to show that the green tea extract inhibited misfolding of the huntingtin protein in vitro, as well as using fruit flies genetically modified to over-express the mutant protein. The latter experiments showed that the degeneration of the flies’ photoreceptor and motor function improved. “These results indicate that modulators of huntingtin misfolding … like EGCG are likely to reduce polyglutamine -mediated toxicity in vivo,” concluded Ehrnhoefer. Further research is needed, particular to discern if the bioactive doses needed to produce these protective effects could be obtained from drinking green tea, or by taking supplements. The researchers themselves appear to be heading down a pharmaceutical route. Nevertheless, the results are in-line with a growing body of research that reports neuroprotective effects of green tea and its extracts. Green tea is said to contain over four times the concentration of antioxidant catechins than black tea (green tea leaves that have been oxidized by fermentation), about 70 mg catechins per 100 mL compared to 15 mg per 100 mL for black tea. Consumer awareness of the benefits of green tea and green tea extracts continues to rise with growing numbers of studies, from 430 papers in 2000 to almost 1500 in 2003, reporting benefits of the main compounds, catechins. This has seen European demand surge, having reached 500 metric tonnes in 2003. Companies such as DSM, with its Teavigo boasting 95 per cent purity of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and Taiyo International, with its Sunphenon claiming more than 90 per cent purity, position themselves firmly in specific catechin markets. |
I highly recommend a pharmaceutical quality Omega-3 fish oil supplement for cardiac disease risk reduction and risk reduction of many other diseases. Consider AmeriSciences Omega Max at www.amerisciencesproducts.com . The New York Times
October 3, 2006 In Europe It’s Fish Oil After Heart Attacks, but Not in U.S. ROME — Every patient in the cardiac care unit at the San Filippo Neri Hospital who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acids. “It is clearly recommended in international guidelines,” said Dr. Massimo Santini, the hospital’s chief of cardiology, who added that it would be considered tantamount to malpractice in Italy to omit the drug. In a large number of studies, prescription fish oil has been shown to improve survival after heart attacks and to reduce fatal heart rhythms. The American College of Cardiology recently strengthened its position on the medical benefit of fish oil, although some critics say that studies have not defined the magnitude of the effect. But in the United States, heart attack victims are not generally given omega-3 fatty acids, even as they are routinely offered more expensive and invasive treatments, like pills to lower cholesterol or implantable defibrillators. Prescription fish oil, sold under the brand name Omacor, is not even approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in heart patients. “Most cardiologists here are not giving omega-3’s even though the data supports it — there’s a real disconnect,” said Dr. Terry Jacobson, a preventive cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “They have been very slow to incorporate the therapy.” The fact that heart patients receive such different treatments in sophisticated hospitals around the world highlights the central role that drug companies play in disseminating medical information, experts said. Because prescription fish oil is not licensed to prevent heart disease in the United States, drug companies may not legally promote it for that purpose at conferences, in doctors’ offices, to patients or even on the Internet. “If people paid more attention to guidelines, more people would be on the drug,” Dr. Jacobson said. “But pharmaceutical companies can’t drive this change. The fact that it’s not licensed for this has definitely kept doctors away.” For example, on Solvay Pharmaceutical’s Web site for Omacor, www.solvay-omacor.com, the first question a user sees is, “Are you a U.S. citizen?” If the answer is yes, the user is sent to a page where heart attacks are not mentioned. (In the United States, Omacor is licensed only to treat the small number of people with extremely high blood triglyceride levels.) So community doctors do not learn how to use the drug. Lack of F.D.A. approval also means that insurers will not pay for treatment with Omacor. Approval from the agency for the use of the drug in heart disease is not expected soon. A study published last month in The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine found that only 17 percent of family doctors were likely to prescribe fish oil to their patients, including patients who had suffered a heart attack. There was a great need, the authors concluded, to “improve awareness of this important advice.” The fact that fish oil is also sold as a nutritional supplement has made it harder for some doctors to regard it as a powerful drug, experts said. “Using this medicine is very popular here in Italy, I think partly because so many cardiologists in this country participated in the studies and were aware of the results,” said Dr. Maria Franzosi, a researcher at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan. “In other countries, uptake may be harder because doctors think of it as just a dietary intervention.” In the largest study of fish oil — conducted more than a decade ago — Italian researchers from the Gissi Group (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto), gave 11,000 patients one gram of prescription fish oil a day after heart attacks. After three years, the study found that the number of deaths was reduced by 20 percent and that the number of sudden deaths by 40 percent, compared with a control group. Later studies have continued to yield positive results, although some scientists say there are still gaps in knowledge. This summer, a critical review of existing research in BMJ, The British Medical Journal, “cast doubt over the size of the effect of these medications” for the general population, said Dr. Roger Harrison, an author of the paper, “but still suggested that they might benefit some people as a treatment.” Dr. Harrison said he believed that people should generally increase their intake of omega-3 acids, best done by eating more fish. Still, he acknowledged that it was difficult to eat foods containing a gram of omega-3 acids each day. “If you ask me do I take omega-3 supplements every day, then, embarrassingly, the answer is yes,” said Dr. Harrison, a professor at Bolton Primary Care Trust of the University of Manchester in England. “I, too, am caught up in this hectic world where I have little time to shop and prepare the healthy foods I know I should be eating,” he said. It seems natural for Italy to be at the forefront of the fish oil trend and home to the largest clinical trials. Scientists have long noted that Mediterranean diets are salubrious for the heart and theorized that the high content of broiled and baked fish might be partly responsible. But the landmark Gissi-Prevenzione trial of fish oil had methodological weaknesses: the patients treated with prescription fish oil pills were compared with untreated patients, rather than with patients given a dummy pill. This meant that, despite impressive results, the trial did not meet the F.D.A.’s standards for approval. Yet by 2004, regulators in almost all European countries, including Spain, France and Britain, had approved Omacor for use in heart attack patients. Marylou Rowe, a spokeswoman for Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which owns the license for the drug in the United States, said that further trials of Omacor would be needed for it to be licensed for heart attack patients in the United States. But she refused to discuss a timetable. The American College of Cardiology now advises patients with coronary artery disease to increase their consumption of omega-3 acids to one gram a day, but it does not specify if this should be achieved by eating fish or by taking capsules. But over-the-counter preparations of fish oil have much less rigorous quality control and are often blends of the two fish oils know to be beneficial in heart disease with other less useful fatty acids. For that reason, Dr. Jacobson of Emory gives the prescription drug, “off label,” to cardiac patients, even though the F.D.A. has not approved it for that use. “Then I know exactly what they’re getting, and there is no mercury,” he said. He said he tells patients who cannot afford the prescription version that they can take the over-the-counter supplements, although there is uncertainty about the dose and they probably need three to four pills a day. In Europe, meanwhile, research on prescription fish oil, which is now thought to act by stabilizing cell membranes, has gained momentum. The Gissi Group is conducting two huge trials using fish oil in patients with abnormal heart rhythms and in patients with heart failure.
Monday, October 23. 2006
I highly recommend a pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplement with Lutein, Astaxanthin, zinc and other antioxidants to help reduce the risk of Macular Degeneration. Here is an interesting article. SCIENCE FILEPlant Pigment May Reverse Vision LossBy Thomas H. Maugh IILos Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 10, 2004
Lutein, a yellow pigment found in dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and collard greens, can reverse some of the symptoms of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of visual disability in the United States, according to a new study.
As many as 6 million Americans have at least some vision loss because of the disease, and the number is expected to double by 2025 as the baby boom generation ages.
Lutein has previously been shown in several small studies — as well as one major trial to be announced later this month — to delay the onset of macular degeneration. The new study, published last week in the Journal of the American Optometric Assn., was the first to show that it could actually reverse symptoms. But the study was small, involving only 90 subjects, and needs to be repeated on a much larger number of people.
Macular degeneration, which involves genetic and nutritional components, occurs in the area of the eye that provides the central field of vision, interfering with a person's ability to see details and eventually leading to complete blindness. There is no successful treatment for the disease.
In the study, Dr. Stuart Richer of the North Chicago VA Medical Center and his colleagues gave 10 milligrams of lutein a day to 30 people with the disease, 10 milligrams of lutein and 10 milligrams of an antioxidant to another 30, and a placebo to a third group of 30.
Over the year of the study, those patients getting either formulation of lutein had a modest increase in visual acuity, Richer said, while those receiving a placebo got worse. "This is unprecedented," Richer said. "But the data doesn't support calling it a treatment because the study was so small. I prefer to call it an intervention."
Richer says he tells his elderly patients to eat 3 to 4 ounces of spinach — the equivalent of 10 milligrams of lutein — at least three or four times a week, especially if they are smokers or have blue eyes, both of which are risk factors for the disease. If they can't or won't eat spinach, he recommends supplements. If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
Article licensing and reprint options Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times Consider "AmeriSciences Antioxidant Plus" at www.amerisciencesproducts.com
Look under Products/Preventative Nutrition.
Overweight and ObesityHealth ConsequencesOverweight and obese individuals (BMI of 25 and above) are at increased risk for physical ailments such as (NIH pp.12-20; Stunkard p. 224) - High blood pressure, hypertension
- High blood cholesterol, dyslipidemia
- Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes
- Insulin resistance, glucose intolerance
- Hyperinsulinemia
- Coronary heart disease
- Angina pectoris
- Congestive heart failure
- Stroke
- Gallstones
- Cholescystitis and cholelithiasis
- Gout
- Osteoarthritis
- Obstructive sleep apnea and respiratory problems
- Some types of cancer (such as endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon)
- Complications of pregnancy
- Poor female reproductive health (such as menstrual irregularities, infertility, irregular ovulation)
- Bladder control problems (such as stress incontinence)
- Uric acid nephrolithiasis
- Psychological disorders (such as depression, eating disorders, distorted body image, and low self esteem).
Reference Stunkard AJ, Wadden TA. (Editors) Obesity: theory and therapy, Second Edition. New York: Raven Press, 1993. National Institutes of Health. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. Bethesda, Maryland: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 1998. Review AmeriSciences Slim Science Program.
Visit www.amerisciencesproducts.com.
Look under Products/Weight Loss.
January 15 2003 • Volume 33 • Number 2 Nutraceuticals Gain Favor for Treatment of Osteoarthritis Glucosamine, chondroitin Michele G. Sullivan
Mid-Atlantic Bureau
ORLANDO, FLA. — Dismissed a decade ago as “snake oil,” glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate have gained respect as treatments for osteoarthritis, Dr. David Hungerford, said at a symposium on hip and knee arthroplasty sponsored by the Current Concepts Institute.
These nutritional supplements are safe and chondroprotective, said Dr. Hungerford, an orthopedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
A 1999 study that followed 199 patients being treated for osteoarthritis of the hand found that, over 3 years, 8% of those who took chondroitin sulfate developed new joint lesions as compared to 29% of the control group.
A 2-year study published in 2001 examined the radiographic outcomes of 210 patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Patients taking chondroitin sulfate showed no joint changes, while those on placebo showed significant joint space narrowing.
Another 2-year, placebo-controlled study published in 2001 found that patients who had knee osteoarthritis and took glucosamine experienced increased function, less pain, and less joint-space narrowing than patients who did not take the supplement.
Dr. Hungerford offered one caveat to these findings: The chondroitin and glucosamine products used in clinical studies contain optimum amounts of the active ingredients. Among nutritional supplements available to consumers, it can be difficult to find a brand that contains the optimum amount of active ingredients.
A recent study of 32 brands of glucosamine showed that 17 had less than 50% of the level of active ingredients claimed on the label and that some of those brands had no active ingredient at all.
“It's important to guide patients to products whose ingredients have been thoroughly tested,” he said.
Copyright © 2004 by International Medical News Group, an Elsevier company. Click for restrictions. I recommend AmeriSciences Joint Ease.
Visit www.amerisciencesproducts.com . Look under Products/Preventative Nutrition.
FAMILY PRACTICE NEWS March 15 2004 • Volume 34 • Number 6 Antioxidant Therapy Quickly Improves Endometriosis Pain Kate Johnson
Contributing Writer
SAN ANTONIO — Two months of high-dose vitamin E and C therapy was associated with significant improvement in endometriosis pain and a reduction in inflammatory markers in a study of 59 women.
“We didn't really expect that patients would actually report anything clinically after only 2 months, but it's really impressive. They are doing much better,” said Dr. Nino Kavtaradze, an ob.gyn. resident at Emory University in Atlanta.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, included 59 women, aged 19-41, with pelvic pain and a history of endometriosis and/or infertility.
Inflammatory markers were measured in blood, which was drawn from all women at the beginning and end of the study, and in peritoneal fluid, which was collected by laparoscopy at the end of the study.
Pain levels were evaluated at baseline and then monthly during the study.
A total of 46 patients were given vitamin E (1,200 IU daily) and vitamin C (1,000 mg daily) for 2 months before undergoing laparoscopy; the remaining 13 patients received placebo.
“We have shown previously that endometriosis is characterized by signs of increased oxidative stress,” said Dr. Nalini Santanam, Ph.D., who led the investigation into inflammatory markers. “Inflammation can be induced by oxidative stress, so our theory was that antioxidants might reduce the inflammatory markers.
Indeed, at the end of the study, the levels of inflammatory markers in peritoneal fluid of women who received the vitamins were significantly lower than the levels in the placebo group.
Levels of inflammatory markers in plasma were the same in both groups, “suggesting that these markers are locally generated in the peritoneal cavity,” commented Dr. Santanam of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Emory.
In the vitamin group, 43% of the women reported an improvement in everyday pain, compared with none of the women in the placebo group. Thirty-seven percent of the vitamin group had decreased dysmenorrhea, compared with 36% of the placebo group, and 24% of the vitamin group had decreased dyspareunia compared with none of the placebo group.
“This is an exciting finding that such a simple and safe therapy might have such dramatic effects on endometriosis,” Dr. Santanam said.
I recommend AmeriSciences Women's Master Multi and AmeriSciences Antioxidant Plus. |
Visit www.amerisciencesproducts.com Look under Products/Women's Health and Preventative Nutrition.
Green Tea Component Kills Leukemia Cells | |
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDayNews) -- A component of green tea helps kill cells of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the second most common leukemia in American adults, according to new research. Mayo Clinic researchers found that the component, called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), destroys leukemia cells by interrupting the communication signals they need to survive. The research appears online in the journal Blood. CLL is most often diagnosed in people in their mid-to-late 60s. Chemotherapy is used to treat the most severe cases, but there is no cure for CLL. In this study, the Mayo scientists found that EGCG prompted leukemia cells to die in eight of 10 patient samples tested in a laboratory. "We're continuing to look for therapeutic agents that are nontoxic to the patient but kill cancer cells, and this finding with EGCG is an excellent start," study leader Dr. Neil E. Kay said in a prepared statement. "Understanding this mechanism and getting these positive early results gives us a lot to work with in terms of offering patients with this disease more effective, easily tolerated therapies earlier." More information The U.S. National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) has more about CLL. Review AmeriSciences Slim with Green Tea.
Check under Products/Weight Loss at www.amerisciencesproducts.com
Interesting information from the National Cancer Institute website concerning the lonterm health benefits or Red Wine (Resveratrol) and Cancer Preventition. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/red-wine-and-cancer-prevention/print?page=&keyword= Red Wine and Cancer Prevention: Fact Sheet
Red wine is a rich source of biologically active phytochemicals, chemicals found in plants. Particular compounds called polyphenols found in red wine-such as catechins and resveratrol-are thought to have anti oxidant or anti cancer properties. 1. What are polyphenols and how do they prevent cancer? Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. When wine is made from these grapes, the alcohol produced by the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols contained in the skin and seeds. Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine because the making of white wine requires the removal of the skins after the grapes are crushed. The phenols in red wine include catechin, gallic acid and epicatechin. Polyphenols have been found to have antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are substances that protect cells from oxidative damage caused by molecules called free radicals. These chemicals can damage important parts of cells, including proteins, membranes and DNA. Cellular damage caused by free radicals has been implicated in the development of cancer. Research on the antioxidants found in red wine has shown that they may help inhibit the development of certain cancers. 2. What is resveratrol and how does it prevent cancer? Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol called a phytoalexin, a class of compounds produced as part of a plant's defense system against disease. It is produced in the plant in response to an invading fungus, stress, injury, infection or ultraviolet irradiation. Red wine contains high levels of resveratrol, as do grapes, raspberries, peanuts and other plants. Resveratrol has been shown to reduce tumor incidence in animals by affecting one or more stages of cancer development. It has been shown to inhibit growth of many types of cancer cells in culture. Evidence also exists that it can reduce inflammation. It also reduces activation of NF kappa B, a protein produced by the body's immune system when it is under attack. This protein affects cancer cell growth and metastasis. Resveratrol is also an antioxidant. 3. What have red wine studies found? The cell and animal studies of red wine have examined effects in several cancers including leukemia, skin, breast and prostate cancers. Scientists are studying resveratrol to learn more about its cancer preventive activities. Recent evidence from animal studies suggests this anti-inflammatory compound may be an effective chemopreventive agent in three stages of the cancer process: initiation, promotion and progression. Research studies published in the International Journal of Cancer show that drinking a glass of red wine a day may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer in half and that the protective effect appears to be strongest against the most aggressive forms of the disease. It was also seen that men who consumed four or more 4-ounce glasses of red wine per week have a 60 percent lower incidence of the more aggressive types of prostate cancer. However, studies of the association between red wine consumption and cancer in humans are in their initial stages. Although consumption of large amounts of alcoholic beverages may increase the risk of some cancers, there is growing evidence that the health benefits of red wine are related to its nonalcoholic components.
Sunday, October 22. 2006
There are many studies supporting Green Tea Extract (EGCG) can reduce the risk of many cancers including skin cancers. Here is an abstract of one article.
Skin photoprotection by green tea: antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. Department of Dermatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. skatiyar@uab.edu Because of a characteristic aroma and health benefits, green tea is consumed worldwide as a popular beverage. The epicatechin derivatives, commonly called polyphenols, present in green tea possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. The major and most highly chemopreventive constituent in green tea responsible for the biochemical or pharmacological effects is (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Epidemiological, clinical and biological studies have implicated that solar ultraviolet (UV) light is a complete carcinogen and repeated exposure can lead to the development of various skin disorders including melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. We and others have shown that topical treatment or oral consumption of green tea polyphenols (GTP) inhibit chemical carcinogen- or UV radiation-induced skin carcinogenesis in different laboratory animal models. Topical treatment of GTP and EGCG or oral consumption of GTP resulted in prevention of UVB-induced inflammatory responses, immunosuppression and oxidative stress, which are the biomarkers of several skin disease states. Topical application of GTP and EGCG prior to exposure of UVB protects against UVB-induced local as well as systemic immune suppression in laboratory animals, which was associated with the inhibition of UVB-induced infiltration of inflammatory leukocytes. Prevention of UVB-induced suppression of immune responses by EGCG was also associated with the reduction in immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 production at UV irradiated skin and draining lymph nodes, whereas IL-12 production was significantly enhanced in draining lymph nodes. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of green tea were also observed in human skin. Treatment of EGCG to human skin resulted in the inhibition of UVB-induced erythema, oxidative stress and infiltration of inflammatory leukocytes. We also showed that treatment of GTP to human skin prevents UVB-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers formation, which are considered to be mediators of UVB-induced immune suppression and skin cancer induction. The in vitro and in vivo animal and human studies suggest that green tea polyphenols are photoprotective in nature, and can be used as pharmacological agents for the prevention of solar UVB light-induced skin disorders including photoaging, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers after more clinical trials in humans. PMID: 12871030 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Review AmeriSciences Slim which contains Green Tea Extract and EGCG.
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Go to Products and check under Weight Loss for AmeriSciences Slim Sultan H. Rahaman, M.D.
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