Gel that can help decayed teeth grow back could end fillings

A gel that can help decayed teeth grow back in just weeks may mean an end to fillings.

The gel, which is being developed by scientists in France, works by prompting cells in teeth to start multiplying. They then form healthy new tooth tissue that gradually replaces what has been lost to decay.

Researchers say in lab studies it took just four weeks to restore teeth back to their original healthy state. The gel contains melanocyte-stimulating hormone, or MSH.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1297850/Gel-help-decayed-teeth-grow-end-fillings.html#ixzz0uvn5HDHp

Gel that can help decayed teeth grow back could end fillings Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1297850/Gel-help-decayed-teeth-grow

A gel that can help decayed teeth grow back in just weeks may mean an end to fillings.

The gel, which is being developed by scientists in France, works by prompting cells in teeth to start multiplying. They then form healthy new tooth tissue that gradually replaces what has been lost to decay.

Researchers say in lab studies it took just four weeks to restore teeth back to their original healthy state. The gel contains melanocyte-stimulating hormone, or MSH.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1297850/Gel-help-decayed-teeth-grow-end-fillings.html#ixzz0uvn5HDHp

25 Top Heart-Healthy Foods

(WebMD) These 25 foods are loaded with heart-healthy nutrients that help protect your cardiovascular system.

From asparagus to sweet potatoes to a robust cabernet — every bite (or sip) of heart-healthy foods delivers a powerful dose of phytonutrients that prevent and repair damage to cells. That’s the essence of preventing heart disease.

“There really is an abundance of fruits and vegetables in many colors, shapes, sizes that are good for your heart,” says Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, a dietitian with the Preventive Cardiology Center at The Cleveland Clinic. “You can definitely reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease by eating these foods every day.”

Indeed, fresh produce provide the cornerstone for a heart-healthy diet because they help wipe out free radicals in the bloodstream, protecting blood vessels.

It’s what Zumpano calls “the whole-foods diet. You want everything to be in its natural form, as it comes from the ground, the less processed the better,” she says.

Whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, fatty fish, and teas are just as important — offering all sorts of complex heart-protective phytonutrients.

That’s why variety is best in selecting heart-healthy foods, says Suzanne Farrell, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and owner of Cherry Creek Nutrition in Denver.

“Everyone’s looking for that one magic food,” Farrell tells WebMD. “But heart-healthy is not only about oatmeal and omega-3 fats. You need to look for ways to get all the different nutrients. Plus, you’ll stick to a heart-healthy lifestyle longer if you have variety.”

25 Top Heart-Healthy Foods

With the help of these nutrition experts from The Cleveland Clinic and the American Dietetic Association, we’ve put together a list of the “best of the best” heart-healthy foods.

The foods listed here are all top-performers in protecting your heart and blood vessels. We’ve also got menu ideas — so you can easily bring heart-healthy foods into your daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Get WebMD’s 25 Top Heart Healthy Foods >>

Tight Blood Pressure Control Doesn’t Help All Diabetics: Study

(Health Day) Lower may not be better when it concerns blood pressure levels in type 2 diabetics who also have heart disease.

New research finds that patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease did not have fewer strokes or heart attacks, and actually were more likely to die when their blood pressure was maintained under 130 mm Hg, compared to patients with “usual blood pressure control,” putting them in the 130 to 140 range.

In healthy adults, blood pressure levels of 120/80 are recommended.

“We found that after a mean follow-up of just under three years in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease, lowering systolic blood pressure [the top number] to less than 130 . . . did not have any benefit compared to lowering blood pressure to between 130 and 140,” said Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff, lead author of the study published in the July 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

These findings, along with similar data recently released from the large ACCORD study, would suggest that “lowering blood pressure intensively does not provide any benefit over and above usual blood pressure reduction,” said Cooper-DeHoff, who is associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research and division of cardiovascular medicine at the Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Time would be better spent focusing on other modifiable heart disease risk factors, such as cholesterol, she advised.

Various organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, currently recommend that diabetics keep their blood pressure under 130/80 mm Hg, but it’s been less clear what to recommend for patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

To this end, the researchers involved in the new study analyzed data on 6,400 type 2 diabetics aged 50 or over who also had coronary artery disease. The participants were part of a larger trial investigating whether specific medication regimens were better than others for preventing heart attacks and other long-term heart problems.

Volunteers first received either a calcium antagonist or beta blocker, then an ACE inhibitor or a diuretic or both. The goal was to reach blood pressure levels of 130/85.

Individuals in the study who had blood pressure between 130 mm Hg and 140 mm Hg (usual control) and those who maintained tight control (less than 130 mm Hg) had roughly the same rate of cardiovascular events.

And, for the first time, the results showed that individuals with systolic blood pressure under 120 had a 15 percent higher risk of dying than those with the higher blood pressure readings.

“We don’t need to push below 130 so maybe we save a blood pressure medication and save some of those adverse effects associated with extra [blood pressure] medication and concentrate on some other goals that are still important in patients with diabetes,” said Cooper-DeHoff.

Read More >>

Kids' Cholesterol May Drop Naturally

Very high cholesterol levels in kids may decline over time even without intervention, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found.

The findings add to an ongoing debate over the importance of high cholesterol in children, and whether cholesterol-lowering drugs are appropriate when changes in diet and physical activity don't cut it.

Such drugs, including statins, are used in adults to reduce the risk of heart disease, a major killer in Western countries. But it isn't clear if they also work for kids.

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Half of Women Have Sex with Their Clothes On

36% of men say they prefer it.

When things are getting hot and heavy under the sheets, do you keep your shirt on? If you said yes, you're not alone. According to a recent sex survey that's what nearly 50% of women do.

Read: 8 Sex Moves Guys Hate

A new poll conducted by MyCelebrityFashion.co.uk finds that just under 50% of women prefer to keep at least one article of clothing on during sex, and 54% of them said the reason for this is because of issues with body image.

The site, which describes itself as "the UK's leading independent celebrity fashion website," surveyed over 1,500 people about sex and clothes after it noticed people were searching for nightwear on its site.

When asked which items people most prefered to wear, 68% said a bra, 59% said a negligee, 40% said high heels, 36% said a dress and 31% said "knickers."

Read: What's the Best Weather for Sex? Hot and Rainy

Men were also polled, and it was found that 36% said they preferred when their female partners wore clothing during sex. 62% said they preferred women wear negligees.

Of course, for the majority of men, the reason they wanted women to keep some clothes on did not have to do with insecurity. Rather, 82% said it's sexier when a woman keeps her pants on because it added a "heigtened sense of thrill."

In other sex news, a new study reveals just how long the perfect amount of time to have sex is... seven minutes.

6 Foods You Didn't Think Were Good for You... But Are


John La Puma, MD
Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight

Special from Bottom Line/Personal
June 1, 2010

M any foods that we perceive as nutritional lightweights actually are just as healthy as -- and, for many people, more enjoyable than -- the so-called superfoods, such as broccoli and spinach. Here, some of the best...

iceberg Lettuce

The light green color of iceberg lettuce suggests that it isn’t rich in nutrients.

Fact: Iceberg contains lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that reduce the risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, the leading causes of blindness in older adults.

Bonus: Eat a salad at the beginning of a meal. It is low in calories and, like any food, stimulates the release of cholecystokinin (CCK), a satiety hormone that reduces appetite and causes people to consume fewer calories overall.

Watermelon

It contains more water than most fruits. The high liquid content, along with the sugars and fiber, make watermelon the perfect snack before workouts. But it’s more than a snack food.

Fact: Watermelon contains 40% more lycopene than fresh (uncooked) tomatoes. Lycopene is a potent antioxidant that strengthens the immune system and may lower the risk for breast and prostate cancers.

Helpful: When you take a watermelon home, keep it on the counter even after cutting it open. Room-temperature watermelon continues to produce antioxidants for about two weeks. It will contain up to 40% more lycopene and up to 139% more beta-carotene than cold watermelon.

Sauerkraut

Fresh, minimally processed vegetables are presumed to be the healthiest. Not always.

Fact: One study found that women who ate at least four weekly servings of fermented cabbage, better known as sauerkraut, were 72% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate less.

Eating fermented cabbage changes gut metabolism and may help to protect the intestinal tract. Isothiocyanates, which are naturally present in all the cruciferous vegetables, appear to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and accelerate the death of these cells.

Korean kimchi, a spicy form of fermented cabbage, appears to have similar effects.

Onions

Most people use onions mainly as a seasoning ingredient in soups and stews and on burgers and salads. For good health, use a lot of them.

Fact: Onions are high in vitamin C, fiber, vitamin B-6 and folate. They also are rich in quercetin, a flavonoid with powerful anticancer effects, and allyl sulfides, the same protective compounds that are present in garlic.

Studies have found that people who eat between 14 and 22 servings of onions a week can reduce their risk for oral cancer by 84%. They have a 56% reduced risk for colon cancer, a 25% reduced risk for breast cancer and a 71% reduced risk for prostate cancer.

Red onions have the most quercetin. However, pink shallots contain the richest mix of chemical compounds and more antioxidants than other onions.

Artichokes

They’re work to eat, but the payoff can be better digestive health.

Fact: One study found that people who took an artichoke leaf extract had a 26.4% reduction in symptoms from irritable bowel syndrome. One of the chemical compounds in artichokes, silymarin, is reputed to improve liver health in patients with hepatitis, but this hasn’t been proved.

I advise patients to eat whole, natural foods rather than depending solely on supplements. Artichokes contain a mix of antioxidants, including narirutin and apigenin-7-rutinoside, that aren’t necessarily included in supplements.

Helpful: Look for artichokes with long stems. When cooked, the stems are almost as tasty as the hearts. Peel the stems to make them more tender. Canned, frozen and jarred artichoke hearts are good, too.

Avocados

Avocados have the distinction of being higher in fat than any other fruit or vegetable. One medium Hass avocado, for example, has about 29 grams of fat and about 320 calories.

Fact: Nearly all of the fat in avocados is the healthful, monounsaturated form. In a study of patients with high cholesterol, those who included avocado in their daily diet had a decrease in total cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in beneficial HDL cholesterol.

As a source of healthy fat, avocado is better than butter and is delicious when spread on toast or a sandwich.


Bottom Line/Personal interviewed John La Puma, MD, an internist at Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight in Santa Barbara, California. A professionally trained chef, he hosts the Lifetime television series What’s Cookin’ with ChefMD? He is author of ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover’s Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease and Getting Really Healthy (Three Rivers). He writes the blog "Paging Dr. La Puma" at www.DrJohnLaPuma.com.


Help for Panic Attacks

Mark A. Stengler, NMD
La Jolla Whole Health Clinic

Special from Bottom Line/Natural Healing

June 1, 2010

T he intense fear and heart attack-like symptoms of a panic attack come on suddenly, without warning. By definition, panic attacks are unprovoked, and figuring out why some people get panic attacks can be challenging. Sometimes they are triggered by fatigue... anxiety... phobias (such as fear of heights)... stress... stimulants (such as caffeine)... low blood sugar... or medication withdrawal. In most cases, panic attacks can be helped by natural therapies.

During a panic attack: Bach Flower Rescue Remedy. This homeopathic blend of flower extracts, which comes in a spray or drop form, quickly and gently relaxes the nervous system. For panic, use the spray form -- and spray once under the tongue every five minutes until anxiety subsides. Available at health-food stores, this product comes in a small, easy-to-carry bottle.

To prevent panic attacks...

Take AlphaS1-casein hydrolyate. This supplement, made of the milk protein casein, helps to calm the nervous system and has been shown to reduce stress-related symptoms. It is best used preventively for those with anxiety who are prone to regular bouts of panic attacks.

Brand to try: A product with alpha S1-casein or lactium, such as Nature’s Plus Dreaminol (800-645-9500, www.NaturesPlus.com, for a store locator).

Treat weak adrenal glands. I have found that patients who are prone to panic attacks often have weak adrenal glands, which keeps the body from effectively coping with stress. Several supplements can help, including the herb ashwagandha (250 mg daily at bedtime) and one 50-mg tablet (or capsule) of a B-complex vitamin twice daily.

Avoid sugar. Eliminating sugar helps to maintain blood sugar levels and makes it less likely that you will feel edgy due to a sugar-induced roller coaster. To keep your blood sugar on an even keel, eat small amounts of protein throughout the day, such as lean poultry, nuts, legumes and fish.


Source: Mark A. Stengler, NMD, a naturopathic medical doctor and leading authority on the practice of alternative and integrated medicine. Dr. Stengler is editor of the Bottom Line Natural Healing newsletter, author of The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies (Bottom Line Books), director of the La Jolla Whole Health Clinic in La Jolla, California, and adjunct associate clinical professor at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about his work, visit www.drstengler.com.


Olive oil study questions 'extra virgin' claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Many of the olive oils lining supermarket shelves in the United States are not the top-grade extra-virgin oils their labels proclaim, according to a report from the University of California, Davis.

Researchers analyzed popular brands and found 69 percent of imported oils and ten percent of domestic oils sampled did not meet the international standards that define the pure, cold-pressed, olive oils that deserve the extra virgin title.

"Consumers, retailers and regulators should really start asking questions," said Dan Flynn, executive director of UC Davis' Olive Oil Center, which conducted the study in partnership with the Australian Oils Research Laboratory, in South Wales.

Funding for the study came in part from California olive oil producers and the California Olive Oil Council, a trade group that works to promote locally produced oils.

Although the survey's sample size was relatively small and selected at random — 19 widely distributed brands purchased from retailers in San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles — the study held the claims on their labels to a scientifically verifiable standard, said Flynn.

The results came as the U.S. Department of Agriculture prepares to adopted scientifically verifiable standards for nomenclature such as "virgin" or "extra virgin," in an effort to clear up concerns about labeling accuracy. The standards will be implemented in October, and are similar to those upheld by the International Olive Council. read the rest of the story==============>

Garlic Improves Health 7 Ways

Garlic is doing a lot more these days than warding off vampires � or even adding flavor to favorite dishes. The herb, known affectionately as "the stinking rose," is a potent antioxidant and dishes up a wide variety of health benefits.

Garlic contains allicin, a chemical that has antibacterial abilities, along with many detoxifying sulfur compounds. Also called "Russian penicillin" for that country's dedicated use of it, garlic � fresh or as a supplement tablet or capsule � may help improve these seven conditions:

1. Heart disease

Studies indicate that garlic may prevent the buildup of plaque and prevent blood clots by thinning the blood, thus lowering the risk of strokes and thromboses. A study at Germany's Saarland University found that garlic helps dissolve potentially dangerous clots. Dr. Arun Bordia at India's Tagore Medical College found that patients who took garlic oil daily for 10 months were 83 percent less likely to form dangerous blood clots.