Healthy Tips from HealthyLife

Beth Cooney offers tips to keep you healthy
About Beth Cooney

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Tea, Exercise and Breast Cancer

Monday, July 5, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Many breast cancer patients are likely to suffer from depression, but exercising and drinking green tea just might help.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine, breast cancer patients who drink green tea and exercise regularly are less likely to suffer from depression than other patients.

The study examined more than 1,300 women enrolled in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study in China. Researchers interviewed the women about their diet and exercise habits six months after they were diagnosed with breast cancer. 18 months after their diagnosis, the women were interviewed again and also reported on their depressive symptoms. Twenty-six percent of the women reported depression at that time. Depression can affect compliance with cancer therapy as well as reduce a patient’s quality of life and increase the length of hospital stays.

Researchers found that all types of exercise decreased the risk for clinical depression, and that women who exercised for two or more hours a week and those who expended more energy during exercise were less likely to be depressed than women who didn’t exercise at all. In addition, tea consumption after diagnosis was inversely associated with the risk for mild depression.

This study is ongoing, so investigators will be able to assess the long-term effects of tea consumption and exercises on depression among breast cancer survivors.

Aspirin and Crohn’s Disease

Thursday, July 1, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

If you take aspirin regularly, you could be putting your health at risk. According to a new study, people who take aspirin regularly for a year or more may be at an increased risk of developing Crohn’s Disease.

Crohn’s Disease is characterized by inflammation and swelling of any part of the digestive system, which can lead to debilitating symptoms and require patients to take medication for life.  This serious condition, which affects 500,000 people in the US, may require surgery, and some sufferers have an increased risk of bowel cancer. There are likely to be many causes of Crohn’s Disease, but previous work on tissue samples has shown that aspirin can be harmful to the bowel.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia followed 200,000 volunteers between the ages of 30 and 74 in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Denmark. The volunteers were all initially healthy, but a small number had developed Crohn’s disease by 2004. The researchers found that those taking aspirin regularly for a year or more were about five times more likely to develop Crohn’s Disease. Interestingly, the study showed that aspirin use had no effect on the risk of developing ulcerative colitis, a condition similar to Crohn’s Disease.

Researchers caution that aspirin does have many beneficial effects, including helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes. They urge aspirin users to continue taking it since the risk of aspirin users possibly developing Crohn’s Disease is very low — only one in every 2000 users — and more research is needed to definitively prove this link.

Sizing up Stereotypes

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

It’s all too easy to develop your own preconceived notions about heavy people and thin people; according to a recent study, it’s also pretty common. 

Researchers at the University of Alberta found that when a thin person is seen laying down watching TV, people assume they’re resting. On the other hand, when people see an overweight person relaxing, they’re assumed to be lazy and unmotivated.

Study participants looked at pictures flashing on a computer screen; each picture was followed by a sedentary word such as “lazy.” After they looked at each picture they were asked to say the color of each word. According to the researchers, when a picture of a thin “couch potato” came up, study participants quickly responded with the color of the word that appeared. However, when a photo of an overweight person lying down appeared, the participants paused. Researchers believe the slow reaction resulted as the stereotyped thoughts automatically set in, with the participant thinking about the person being lazy instead of thinking about the color of the word.

The authors of the study say these stereotypes about overweight people need to be addressed. It’s important to note that just because a person is thin doesn’t mean they are fit and healthy, and the fact that a person is overweight doesn’t mean they don’t exercise. They say it’s important to raise awareness of stereotypes because it can help people counter the effects.

Added Sugar and Heart Disease Risk

Monday, June 28, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Those of you who with a sweet tooth have something else to worry about besides gaining weight and getting cavities. According to a new study, people who consume higher amounts of added sugar are likely to have a higher risk of developing heart disease.

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked for links between consumption of added sugar, blood fat levels and cardiovascular risk factors in data on more than six thousand adults who participated in the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They only looked at added sugars and caloric sweeteners, not natural sugars found in fruit and fruit juices.

The researchers divided the participants into 5 groups according to the extent to which added sugar contributed to daily calories: under 5 percent, 5 to under 10 percent, 10 to under 17.5 percent, 17.5 to under 25 percent, and 25 percent and over. They found that the groups that consumed the most added sugar were more likely to have a higher risk of heart disease, including higher levels of triglyceride and higher ratios of triglycerides to HDL-C, both lipid measures.

The authors of the study suggest people should at how much added sugar they consume on a regular basis and find ways to cut it down, for the sake of their long term health.

Napping Improves Learning

Thursday, June 24, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Here’s good news for those of you whose day is just not complete without an afternoon nap: A new study offers more evidence that successful study habits should include plenty of napping.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that people who take a nap and dream about a task they’ve just learned perform it better upon waking than both those who don’t sleep at all or those who sleep but don’t report any dreams.

Study participants were asked to sit in front of a computer screen and learn the layout of a three-dimensional maze so they could find their way to a landmark (a tree) when they were placed at a random location within the virtual space five hours later. Those who were allowed to take a nap and remembered dreaming about the task found the tree more quickly than the others.

The researchers believe the dreams are a marker that the brain is working on the same problem at many levels. In other words, the dreams didn’t lead to better memory, but they are a sign that other parts of the brain were working hard to remember how to get through the virtual maze.

Their advice? It may be better to study hard right before you go to sleep than in the afternoon, or to take a nap after a period of intense afternoon study.

Addicted to Indoor Tanning?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

It’s no secret that tanning is bad for you, but according to a new study it may also be addictive. Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the University at Albany found that some people who frequently use indoor tanning beds may become addicted to the habit and are also more likely to be prone to anxiety and use alcohol and other substances.

The researchers recruited 421 college students and asked them to fill in well-known questionnaires used to screen for alcohol and substance misuse, and to assess anxiety, depression and mood.

They found that 54 percent of the participants used indoor tanning facilities, and that the average number of visits per year among these indoor tanning users was 23. 39.3 percent of the study subjects met one criteria for indoor tanning addiction, while 30.6 percent met another. Those who could be classified as addicted to indoor tanning also reported higher symptoms of anxiety and greater use of alcohol, marijuana and other substances compared to those who did not meet the criteria. However, they did not reporter higher symptoms of depression.

The researchers concluded that interventions to reduce skin cancer risk should address the addictive qualities of indoor tanning for some individuals and the relationship of this behavior to other addictions.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently classifies tanning beds as Class 1 devices, the category for items that have minimal potential to cause harm, like tongue depressors and adhesive bandages. The FDA is considering re-classifying tanning beds as Class 2 and regulating them more closely.

Your Diet and Your Grandchildren

Monday, June 21, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Eating too much ice cream when you’re pregnant may have health implications for generations to come. According to a new study by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, pregnant females who eat a high fat diet may not only increase breast cancer risk in their daughters but also in that daughter’s offspring — the “granddaughters.”

The researchers aren’t sure why this risk is passed on through two generations. The theory is that it occurs through “epigenetic” changes resulting in an increase in terminal end buds in the breast tissue. This increase can apparently be passed on through generations. Breast cancer is believed to develop in these buds, and having more of them seems to increase breast risk, according to the researchers.

The results of this study conducted on laboratory rats found that the risk appears to not only extend from mother to daughter and granddaughter, but also from mother to son to granddaughter. The daughters of male and female rats born from mother rats with a high-fat diet had an 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer, while the risk was about 69 percent if the granddaughter’s mother or father was born from a rat that ate normally and the other parent came from a high-fat consuming parent. Granddaughters of grandmother rats who ate normally had only a 50 percent chance of developing breast cancer.

Interestingly, while the grandmother rat ate a diet that was 43 percent fat, she didn’t consume more calories than a control group of rats, and both her daughters and grandaughters ate a normal diet.

The researchers also studied a different control population of rats given a form of estrogen, and saw no increase in breast cancer risk in granddaughters. They say this suggests that the increase in estrogen production related to eating more fat is not the source of the problem.

They point out that this study proves pregnant women need to eat a well-balanced diet, as they may be affecting the future health of their daughters and granddaughters, as well as their own well-being.

Obesity and Dementia

Thursday, June 17, 2010 by:Jill Montag
Comment
Comments
|
|

Obesity and dementia are two diseases that are hard to combat; according to new research, they might be genetically related to each other.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles generated 3D maps of the brains of more than 200 healthy elderly people and found a pattern of diminished brain volume in people with a specific DNA sequence within the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there has been a long-established link between obesity in mid life and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. However, this study suggests that healthy people with a specific DNA sequence associated with obesity could be at a greater risk of developing dementia. Researchers observed a reduction in people’s brain tissue but determined that this wasn’t linked to other obesity-related factors like diabetes, cholesterol levels or high blood pressure.

More research is needed to confirm these findings, however, since this was a relatively small study.

Page 44 of 51« First...4243444546...Last »