REPORTING POINT 04-00
AEROMEDICAL NEWS
“Live healthy...live well”
HEALTH NEWS
by Larry Kline
SWAPA Voice Mailbox 511/email: lwkline@compuserve.com
ASPIRIN USE MAY DECREASE COLON CANCER RISK - a recent study of almost 90,000 female nurses found that women who took four to six aspirin a week for 20 years were less likely to develop colon cancer than those who took less aspirin. The results were adjusted for other risk factors such as diet, alcohol use, smoking, physical inactivity, and family history.
Researchers suspect that aspirin may protect against colon cancer by inhibiting enzymes needed for tumor growth. Or, aspirin may restore normal shedding of cells lining your colon. Shedding is delayed with polyps or cancer. Researchers believe aspirin influences early stage tumors that develop slowly. This may explain why protective benefits were seen after years of taking aspirin.
This study did not determine what dosage of aspirin best protects against cancer while minimizing possible complications. Although aspirin sounds like a wonder drug, it is still a drug with possible side effects such as stomach irritation and bleeding.
Another study has indicated that exercise fights colon cancer more than any other malignancy. The most active people have only about half the risk of the least active people. Exercise, like fiber, seems to reduce risk mainly by speeding wastes through the colon, as well as reduce the levels of prostaglandins, insulin, and stress, all risk factors for colon cancer. Mayo Clinic Health Letter 6/99, Consumer Reports on Health 10/99.
PROSTATE PROMISE - in a small, but promising study, an experimental genetically engineered vaccine has “tricked” the body into attacking prostate cancer. The vaccine consists of a patient’s own cancer cells taken from the surgically removed tumor. When injected, the body recognizes the cells in the vaccine, as well as any lingering cells from the tumor, as foreign invaders and the body’s immune system attacks the remaining tumor. Time 11/1/99.
VITAMIN PROVIDES “INSURANCE” FOR DRINKERS - you already know that there is strong evidence that moderate drinkers are less likely than non-drinkers to suffer strokes, high cholesterol, and diabetic risk. But recent studies have linked moderate drinking of alcohol to an increased risk of colon cancer. Harvard Medical School determined that men who drank more than two alcoholic beverages a day doubled their risk of colon cancer. Scientists originally thought that alcohol was directly to blame, but now the Harvard study suggests that alcohol acts by reducing levels of folic acid, an essential B vitamin.
Another long-term study of alcoholics from the University of California at Davis showed that alcoholics have serious folic acid deficiencies. Alcohol seems to make it harder for the intestines to absorb folic acid. When folic acid levels fall, colon cancer risk climbs quickly. One theory as to why this occurs centers on the body constantly replaces the cells of the colon’s lining, which requires folic acid. A folic acid shortfall may lead to genetic errors that make new cells more likely to become cancerous.
The Harvard study found that men who drank more than two drinks a day had double the colon cancer risk; those who drank and consumed little folic acid had three times the colon cancer risk. A parallel study of 89,000 women reported last year indicated those whose daily folic acid intake averaged 200 micrograms or less had a 30 percent higher risk of colon cancer than those getting more than 400 mcg.
The solution to this risk is rather easy: eat plenty of folate-rich foods. These include asparagus, beans, spinach, and orange juice, as well as breads, pasta, and breakfast cereals, which are enriched with the vitamin. Also taking a multivitamin with at least 400 mcg of folic acid can greatly cut your risk.
In addition to protecting your colon, a daily intake of 400 mcg of folic acid can dramatically lower heart disease odds by reducing blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine.
If you tend to heavy drinking, consider the herbal supplement milk thistle. The extract contained in milk thistle, silymarin, appears to fortify the liver against toxic substances. Some studies shows silymarin extends the lives of heavy drinkers with liver problems. Whether silymarin is effective with moderate drinkers is unknown. Best bet: don’t overindulge! Health 5/99.
THE BEST STRETCH - stretching is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your body, increasing the pliability and range of motion of your muscles as well as your ligaments and tendons. However, recent research has shown that too much stretching prior to a workout may not be all good. In studies conducted at LSU and BYU, researchers found that subjects who stretched vigorously for 20 minutes prior to workout lost strength during the workout. The study’s co-author theorizes that this weakening effect may be the result of a relaxing of the tendons, making it difficult for muscles to contract fully. The researchers recommend a warm-up of 5 to 10 minutes before a workout.
Stretching after weight training, however, is highly recommended, with increased muscle strength of 18 percent over those who did not stretch after exercise. Men’s Fitness 11/99.
DOES DOING THE LAUNDRY MAKE YOU SICK? - well, it can, if you are washing diapers or the clothing of someone who is sick. Microbiologists have recently found that bacteria can survive the warm and cold wash cycles and infect a person who handles wet laundry. The researchers inspected the washing machines of 100 subjects and found 44 had e.coli or other illness-inducing bacteria inside their washers.
Washing clothes in hot water will get rid of most bacteria, but according to the researchers, only 14 percent of Americans use the hot-water cycle. The clothes dryer can destroy most of the infectious bugs, but it seems that the biggest risk for infection comes in transferring a load of wet clothes from the washer to the dryer. The bacteria contaminate your hands when handling the wet clothes and can be spread when food is prepared immediately after handling the contaminated clothing.
The researchers suggest washing underwear and baby clothes separately and use a cup of bleach, which kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. Also washing your hands after handling laundry and using the hottest washing cycle available can reduce exposure. Health 11/99.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE - in a study of some 4,300 older men without cardiovascular disease published in The Lancet, those who were moderately active had half the mortality rate of sedentary men. Even light activity was associated with a substantial benefit, though not as much. While those who had been exercising the longest had the lowest death rate, men who had recently started light or moderate exercise benefitted as well. Consumer Reports on Health 4/99.
RAISINS - THE “SUPER SNACK” - in a recent study, volunteers who ate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, including 400 calories of raisins daily, lowered their total blood cholesterol by an average of 8 percent, including a significant decrease in LDL cholesterol oxidation - a process which must occur before artery-clogging plaque can build.
Besides being good for your heart and vascular systems, the tartaric acid moves food through the colon faster, limiting the time that potentially cancer-causing agents remain in the colon. Also resveratrol, a compound found in grapes, can keep cells from turning cancerous and inhibit the growth of any that are already malignant. In an 18 week study, a group of mice dosed with resveratrol developed fewer skin cancers than a group that was left untouched. When resveratrol was added to cultures of human leukemia cells, resveratrol halted the cell division that signals cancer.
OK, so it’s healthy for you - what about all that sugar? It seems that the sugar in raisins is much better for the body than a can of soda. Both may give an initial sugar “high”, but dried fruit won’t allow those levels to crash as significantly as soda does.
After consuming raisins, test subjects’ blood sugar levels were pretty much stable at the pre-ingestion levels, whereas those who had refined sugars (as in sodas), experienced much lower blood sugar levels after a period of time - they had a sugar letdown.
Dried fruit can lead to an increase in dental cavities unless you thoroughly clean your teeth after eating. Health 11/99.
BEER-THE HEALTH DRINK? - drinking beer decreases your chances of developing kidney stones, according to the results of a recent Finnish study. Doctors are not sure whether it is due to the alcohol or hops, but subjects who drank beer had 40 per cent less chance of developing the stones than those who abstain. Men’s Fitness 11/99.
