Vitamin E May Ease Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation and the pain it brings can seriously impair physical activity and quality of life, especially in light of the fact that up to half of a person’s body mass consists of skeletal muscle. But according to University of Illinois professor Kimberly Huey, vitamin E may be able to reduce chronic inflammation.

Researchers gave vitamin E to mice and then injected them with E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to cause acute inflammation throughout the mice’s systems. Then the mice were examined for levels of particular pro-inflammatory cytokines (chemicals that help cells communicate and the immune system respond).

When the mice were examined, researchers found a significant decrease in cytokines, when compared with the placebo.

In addition to examining the cytokines, the researchers also looked at the amount of oxidized proteins in the muscle. “Oxidation can be detrimental, and in muscle has been associated with reduced muscle strength,” Huey said. The researchers found a “significant reduction” in the amount of oxidized proteins in muscles with vitamin E compared to placebo.” she said.

Vitamin E “may be beneficial in individuals with chronic inflammation, such as the elderly or patients with type 2 diabetes or chronic heart failure,” Huey said.

Heart Attack Patients Get 'Big Chill' Treatment

It took five mighty shocks to get Cynthia Crawford's heart to start beating again after she collapsed at Ochsner Clinic a few weeks ago. A dramatic rescue, to be sure, yet it was routine care she could have had at any hospital. What came next, though, was not. As she lay unconscious, barely clinging to life, doctors placed her in an inflatable cocoon-like pool that sprayed her naked body with hundreds of icy cold jets of water, plunging her into hypothermia.

"Like jumping in the North Sea," said the cardiologist leading her care, Dr. Paul McMullan.

Days later, Crawford was recovering without the brain damage she might have suffered.

For years, doctors have tried cooling people to limit damage from head and spinal cord injuries, strokes and even prematurity and birth trauma in newborns. It's also used for cardiac arrest, when someone's heart has stopped. In January, New York will join several other cities requiring ambulances to take many cardiac arrest patients to hospitals that offer cooling.

Now doctors will be testing a new and dramatically speedier way of doing this for a much more common problem — heart attacks, which strike a million Americans each year. ...more

It's official: Men really are the weaker sex

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals. The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class...

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One sneeze, 150 colds for commuters

TISSUES at the ready. A single sneeze in a busy area can end up infecting 150 people with a cold in just five minutes, new research suggests.

An analysis of the germs unleashed from a single commuter's sneeze showed that within minutes they are being passed on via escalator handrails or seats on trains and underground carriages.

...more

Eating Eggs Protects Mom’s Offspring from Cancer

Eating eggs while pregnant can protect the mom’s offspring from cancer. Researchers reported in the journal of the “Federation of American Society for Experimental Biology” (FASEB) that eating choline—a nutrient abundant in eggs—during pregnancy lowered the risk of breast cancer in the mother’s offspring.

The team of biologists from Boston University was the first to link choline with the prevention of breast cancer and the first to identify changes in genes related to choline....more

Sex is the key to longer living

Sex - we're so ohhh-ver it!

At least that's what 105-year-old Clara Meadmore reckons.

Forget plenty of exercise, a strong family history or a diet of oily fish, fruit and veg.

The thing she credits for her lengthy life is men – or rather, a distinct lack of them.

The elderly Scot has gone without sex her entire life, claiming the hassle-free existence has given her a distinct advantage in staying fit and well.

But can this be true?

Well, according to sexperts, Claire's abstinence could have the opposite effect.

Just check up our round-up of reasons why sex could save your life.

1) Sex keeps us fit

It’s an age-old notion, but sweating it out in the bedroom really can give you a full-body workout.

The average lovemaking session burns between 50 and 100 calories.

That means that having sex three times a week burns 7500 calories per year, the equivalent of jogging 75 miles.

And it isn’t just the thigh and arm muscles that get a full workout when you treat your man in the bedroom.

Sex tones and conditions the muscles of the pelvic floor too.

These muscles play a vital function when it comes to good posture, straighter back and flatter tummies.

2) Sex works as a painkiller

Some women may use the 'headache' excuse when they don’t feel up to a session, but in reality, lovemaking itself can help to relieve pain.

According to a recent study, women who brought themselves to orgasm regularly saw their pain tolerance threshold shortly afterwards increased by 75 per cent.

This may happen because regular orgasms help the release of Oxytocin; a natural chemical in the body that can work to relieve pain by releasing sedative endorphins.

3) Sex improves our mood

So it’s pretty obvious that writhing around in perfect pleasure will perk you up, but other studies show that sex can improve our mood in different ways.

Firstly sex, like exercise, can improve our mood by releasing endorphins – giving us that 'runner’s high' for hours after lovemaking.

And a recent study goes so far as to suggest that semen itself may act as an antidepressant.

Females in the US study who were having sex regularly with the partners without a condom, had fewer signs of depression than women who weren’t having sex at all.

4) Sex is good for our health

So, sex makes you happier and a happy disposition has been proven to help keep your body healthy.

But recent studies even suggest that serious conditions, like high blood pressure, can be cured between the sheets.

One study found that women who ingested semen during sex had a lower risk of preeclampsia, the dangerously high blood pressure that sometimes accompanies pregnancy.

Other studies show that sex lowers blood pressure, and reduces the incidence of strokes because of its stress-relieving ability.

And lovemaking can also help to prevent cancer.

Recently The Journal of American Medical Association recently reported that high ejaculation frequency was related to decreased risk of total prostate cancer.

5) Sex is fun – enough said

6) Sex boosts oestrogen

Dr Winnifred Cutler, a specialist in behavioural endocrinology and director of the Athena Institute for Women's Wellness in Pennsylvania found that women who enjoyed regular weekly sex with a man had significantly higher levels of oestrogen in their blood than women who abstained.

The benefits of oestrogen include lowering bad cholesterol, better bone density and supple skin.

7) Sex makes us brainier

It has been suggested that women can raise their IQ with every orgasm that they experience.

Scientists found that the moment of orgasm causes the speed of blood circulation to reach its maximum. This means oxygen-enriched blood reaches organs, including the brain, very quickly.

Healthy MORAL sex was planned by God for our benefit in every way. It is physically, mentally and morally good for us and marriage between a men and women was ordained by our creator. It's not just for having babies!

Newly Diagnosed People With Diabetes See a $4,200 Increase in Their Annual Medical Expenses

People who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes will spend substantially more in the first year on medical costs than their non-diabetic counterparts-an average of $4,174 for a 50-year-old-according to RTI International, a non-profit research institute in North Carolina.


Newly Diagnosed People With Diabetes See a $4,200 Increase in Their Annual Medical Expenses

Incidence of Diabetes in Postmenopausal Women Not Reduced By a Low-fat Diet

Next week we'll publish a great article written by Dr. Richard Bernstein. MD. Dr. Bernstein is a long-term proponent of paying more attention to carbs rather than fats (though he certainly doesn't advocate that you can have all the fats you want!) While Dr. Bernstein has been telling us about the benefits of low carb for over 30 years, there is still much skepticism about his (and many other's-Gary Taubes, anyone?) low carb results. The establishment has been slow to be convinced, despite the many research trials that back up their findings.

Incidence of Diabetes in Postmenopausal Women Not Reduced By a Low-fat Diet

A Father of A Child with Type 1 Warnings

A Father of A Child with Type 1 Child Warns: Be Prepared for Hypoglycemia

My daughter Lauren was five days shy of her twelfth birthday when she was diagnosed with type 1. We were blessed with a child who could and did take the lead in her recovery and care. She never had any "teen diabetic rebellion" and never adopted a "why me?" mentality. Her health has been great, and her last A1c was 6.7%. With all the hormonal changes that can affect a teenage girl's body and thus change her insulin requirements, Lauren has always stayed on top of her care and never lost her fantastic personality.

Insomnia drug helps jet-lag, shift-work troubles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An insomnia drug that helps the body produce more of the sleep hormone melatonin may improve sleep for jet-lagged travelers and shift workers, researchers reported on Monday.

Maryland-based Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported on two studies of its drug tasimelteon, also known as VEC-162, that showed it helped patients sleep longer and more deeply than a placebo.

They said that people with so-called circadian rhythm disorders could be helped. These disorders are common causes of insomnia that affect millions of people whose activities are out of sync with their internal body clocks.

These disorders entail persistent sleep disturbances, insomnia when trying to sleep and excessive sleepiness while trying to remain awake, the researchers said.

"...Tasimelteon has the potential for the treatment of patients with transient insomnia associated with circadian rhythm sleep disorders, including people affected by jet lag, or those who work at night, and early-riser workers," they wrote in their report, published in the Lancet medical journal.

Dr. Shantha Rajaratnam of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues, working with the company, did both Phase II and Phase III trials of the drug, aiming to show it is safe and works.

Volunteers slept in labs and were tested using devices known as polysomnographs, which measure sleep activity.

Patients given tasimelteon fell asleep faster, had better sleep and woke up faster, they reported. The drug did not cause any more side-effects than a placebo, they noted.

Melatonin can fight jet lag too but over-the-counter melatonin products are not regulated, they pointed out, and have not been consistently shown to help treat jet lag and other sleep disorders.

The market is potentially large. The study quoted U.S. labor statistics as finding that about 20 percent of the workforce or about 19.7 million U.S. workers are early risers who start work between 2:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

"Most of these people probably experience chronic sleep restriction because they are unable to initiate and maintain sleep when they attempt to sleep in the early or late evening hours. Tasimelteon might alleviate this problem by advancing the sleep-wake cycle, by providing a direct sleep-promoting effect, or both," they wrote.

In a commentary, Dr. Daniel Cardinali of the University of Buenos Aires and Dr Diego Golombek, National University of Quilmes in Argentina, noted that drugs such as valium can be addictive.

"Shift-workers, airline crew, tourists, football teams, and many others will welcome the results of Shantha Rajaratnam and colleagues' study in The Lancet today," they wrote.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)