How to Cure a New Year's Hangover

Exercise and B vitamins can help cure a hangover, but coffee won't help.These are among the tips that Loyola University Health System family physician Dr. Aaron Michelfelder offers to avoid the misery of a New Year's hangover.Before the party:-- Plan to drink moderately -- a maximum of five drinks for men and three drinks for women during a minimum three-hour period.-- To prevent inflammation, take an anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen or Aleve.During the party:-- Eat first, and then drink, not the other way around. Food slows the absorption of alcohol.-- Drink slowly.-- To prevent dehydration, drink a glass of water after each alcoholic drink.-- Take a B vitamin supplement.After the party:-- Do not drink and drive.-- Get as much sleep as possible.The morning after:-- Take another B...

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Jon's Health Tips - Latest Health Research

I started the blog on which these reports are based largely to motivate myself to keep informed and to adapt healthier ways of life. Due to the fact that I was somewhat overweight, and that my father and grandfather had both died at the age of 65, I felt extra precautions were necessary. Ironically, none of the health measures I adopted protected me from my own major health crisis at the age of 65, although I have survived and a full recovery is expected. But as a result of this health crisis, I have fallen off the wagon on many of my health practices, some out of necessity, some out of an understandable need, or at least, desire, for self-indulgence, and some out of sheer indifference. But now I'm ready to try to resume as much as I can of healthy behaviors. Ironically as well, one of my...

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Exercise and Vitamin D Help Prevent Falls in Seniors

ΩA systematic review of over 50 clinical trials finds that exercise and Vitamin D supplements are the best ways to reduce the risk of falling in people aged 65 and over. The review is published in the December 21 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine and was commissioned by the US Preventive Services Task Force. A researcher at the Drexel University School of Public Health worked with colleagues at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, which is part of the Oregon Evidenced-based Practice Center, to conduct the study.“Our evidence review shows that exercise and Vitamin D supplementation are the most effective primary care interventions to prevent falls,” said Yvonne L. Michael, ScD, MS, an associate professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health and lead review author...

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Chronic Statin Therapy Associated With Reduced Postoperative Mortality

ΩStatin drugs were first introduced to lower blood cholesterol concentrations; however, research is now discovering other benefits. A new study from France, published in the January 2011 issue of Anesthesiology, is the first to analyze the impact of preoperative chronic statin therapy on postoperative adverse events in surgical patients. Findings from the study suggest that statin therapy is associated with reduced postoperative mortality.“Preoperative uses of statins have demonstrated major cardiac and non-cardiac protective effects, including in this study. Since we are now able to also understand the postoperative effects of statin therapy, it should be considered as a global protection for patients,” said study author, Bruno Riou, M.D., Ph.D.The observational study analyzed 1,674 patients...

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Fats vs. Carbs: Debate Continues on the Sources of America’s Dietary Ills

ΩA growing number of top nutritional scientists are pointing to excessive carbohydrates, rather than fat, as the source of America’s dietary woes. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on December 20, some researchers are saying that cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.Dietary fat has traditionally played the role of “public enemy No. 1,” and consumption of carbohydrates has increased over the years with the help of a 30-year-old, government-mandated message to cut fat. Today Americans, on average, eat 250 to 300 grams of carbs a day, accounting for about 55% of their caloric intake; the most conservative recommendations say they should eat half that amount.At the same time, some others are urging the public not to paint all...

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Fried Fish Fuels Strokes?

ΩEating a Southern staple, fried fish, could be one reason people in Alabama and across the "stroke belt" states are more likely than other Americans to die of a stroke, according to a study published in the December 22, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).In the stroke belt states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee – the risk of dying from stroke is higher than in other parts of the country. In Alabama, the stroke death rate is 125 per every 100,000 people, against a national average of just 98 per 100,000.The study was part of the long-running REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke) trial, led by George Howard, Dr. PH, at the University of...

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Beetroot juice could help people live more active lives

ΩNew research into the health benefits of beetroot juice suggests it's not only athletes who can benefit from its performance enhancing properties – its physiological effects could help the elderly or people with heart or lung-conditions enjoy more active lives.Beetroot juice has been one of the biggest stories in sports science over the past year after researchers at the University of Exeter found it enables people to exercise for up to 16% longer. The startling results have led to a host of athletes – from Premiership footballers to professional cyclists – looking into its potential uses.A new piece of research by the university in conjunction with the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry has revealed the physiological effects of drinking beetroot juice could help a much wider range...

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Echinea may reduce common-cold duration by only half a day

ΩAn over-the-counter herbal treatment believed to have medicinal benefits has minimal impact in relieving the common cold, according to research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.The study, published in this month's Annals of Internal Medicine, involved echinacea, a wild flower (also known as the purple coneflower) found in meadows and prairies of the Midwestern plains. The supplement is sold in capsule form in drug and retail stores. Dried echinacea root has been used in homemade remedies such as teas, dried herb and liquid extracts.The randomized trial involved more than 700 people between 12 and 80 years old. The subjects, all of whom had very early symptoms of a cold, were divided into four groups. One group received no pills, a second group received...

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Yes Virginia, People Who Eat Healthier Really Do Live Longer

Ω Medical and dietary experts have long recommended healthy eating habits. Now, on the eve of one of our most calorically indulgent holidays, a new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that those with healthy diets really do to live longer and feel better. In a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from the University of Maryland and five other institutions found that diets favoring "healthier foods" were associated with significantly reduced mortality when compared to diets high in fat and sugar. Their study investigated the associations of dietary patterns with mortality through analysis of the eating patterns of over 2,500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 over a ten-year period. According...

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Garlic, onions and leeks, protect against hip osteoarthritis

ΩResearchers at King's College London and the University of East Anglia have discovered that women who consume a diet high in allium vegetables, such as garlic, onions and leeks, have lower levels of hip osteoarthritis.The findings, published in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal, not only highlight the possible effects of diet in protecting against osteoarthritis, but also show the potential for using compounds found in garlic to develop treatments for the condition.A relationship between body weight and osteoarthritis was previously recognised, although it is not yet completely understood. This study is the first of its kind to delve deeper into the dietary patterns and influences that could impact on development and prevention of the condition.Osteoarthritis is the most common form...

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Strength training for seniors provides cognitive function, economic benefits: VCH-UBC study

ΩA one-year follow-up study on seniors who participated in a strength training exercise program shows sustained cognitive benefits as well as savings for the healthcare system. The research, conducted at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia, is published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.The study is the first to examine whether both cognitive and economic benefits are sustained after formal cessation of a tailored exercise program. It builds on the Brain Power Study, published in the January 2010 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, which demonstrated that 12 months of once-weekly or twice-weekly progressive strength training improved executive cognitive function in women aged 65- to 75- years- old. Executive...

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Go ahead, drink your milk

ΩIf you're unsure about what foods to eat to maintain a healthy diet, you're not alone. Increasing evidence continues to point people back to basics – and reach for the milk. A study to be published in the January edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that drinking three glasses of milk per day may lead to an 18% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.The research conducted at Wageningen and Harvard Universities, examined 17 studies from Europe, USA and Japan, also found no link between the consumption of regular or low-fat dairy and any increased risk of heart disease, stroke or total mortality."Milk and dairy are the most nutritious and healthy foods available and loaded with naturally occurring nutrients, such as calcium, potassium and protein, to name a few," said...

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Wonder Why Reported Health Benefits Seem To Change Over Time?

This disturbing report in the New Yorker may expain the reason:Before the effectiveness of a drug can be confirmed, it must be tested again and again. The test of replicability, as it’s known, is the foundation of modern research. It’s a safeguard for the creep of subjectivity. But now all sorts of well-established, multiply confirmed findings have started to look increasingly uncertain. It’s as if our facts are losing their truth...The disturbing implication of this study is that a lot of extraordinary scientific data is nothing but noise. This suggests that the decline effect is actually a decline of illusion. Many scientific theories continue to be considered true even after failing numerous experimental tests. The decline effect is troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to...

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Pomegranate juice components inhibit cancer cell migration

ΩResearchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), have identified components in pomegranate juice that seem to inhibit the movement of cancer cells and weaken their attraction to a chemical signal that has been shown to promote the metastasis of prostate cancer to the bone, according to a presentation today at the American Society for Cell Biology's 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.The researchers in the UCR laboratory of Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D., plan additional testing in an in vivo model for prostate cancer to determine dose-dependent effects and side effects of the two components.The effect, if any, of pomegranate juice on the progression of prostate cancer is controversial.In a 2006 study of prostate cancer patients who daily drank an eight-ounce glass of pomegranate...

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Caffeine and Glucose Combined Improves the Efficiency of Brain Activity

ΩThe combination of caffeine and glucose can improve the efficiency of brain activity, according to a recent study in which functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify the neural substrate for the combined effects of these two substances.The study, which was published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, is led by the researchers Josep M. Serra Grabulosa, from the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology at the UB and a member of the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS); Ana Adan, a lecturer from the same department and a member of the UB's Institute of Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (IR3C); and Carles Falcón, a member of the Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine...

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More Protein, Less Refined Starch Important for Dieting

ΩResearchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, can now unveil the results of the world's largest diet study: If you want to lose weight, you should maintain a diet that is high in proteins with more lean meat, low-fat dairy products and beans and fewer finely refined starch calories such as white bread and white rice. With this diet, most people can also eat until they are full without counting calories and without gaining weight.Finally, the extensive study concludes that the official dietary recommendations are not sufficient for preventing obesity.The large-scale random study called Diogenes has investigated the optimum diet composition for preventing and treating obesity. The results were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.The objective...

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What evidence from human studies links tea to cancer prevention?

ΩComprehensive review by National Health InstituteTea has long been regarded as an aid to good health, and many believe it can help reduce the risk of cancer. Most studies of tea and cancer prevention have focused on green tea (13). Although tea and/or tea polyphenols have been found in animal studies to inhibit tumorigenesis at different organ sites, including the skin, lung, oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, pancreas, and mammary gland (24), the results of human studies—both epidemiologic and clinical studies—have been inconclusi...

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Drinking cranberry juice no help

ΩDrinking cranberry juice has been recommended to decrease the incidence of urinary tract infections, based on observational studies and a few small clinical trials. However, a new study published in the January 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, and now available online, suggests otherwise.College-aged women who tested positive for having a urinary tract infection were assigned to drink eight ounces of cranberry juice or a placebo twice a day for either six months or until a recurrence of a urinary tract infection, whichever happened first. Of the participants who suffered a second urinary tract infection, the cranberry juice drinkers had a recurrence rate of almost 20 percent, while those who drank the placebo suffered only a 14 percent recurrence."We assumed that we would observe...

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Excess Fructose May Play Role in Diabetes, Obesity and Other Health Conditions

ΩMore and more people have become aware of the dangers of excessive fructose in diet. A new review on fructose in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) indicates just how dangerous this simple sugar may be.Richard J. Johnson, MD and Takahiko Nakagawa, MD (Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado) provide a concise overview of recent clinical and experimental studies to understand how excessive amounts of fructose, present in added sugars, may play a role in high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease (CKD).Dietary fructose is present primarily in added dietary sugars, honey, and fruit. Americans most frequently ingest fructose from sucrose, a disaccharide containing 50% fructose and 50% glucose bonded...

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Daily Aspirin at Low Doses Reduces Cancer Deaths

ΩA daily low dose of aspirin significantly reduces the number of deaths from a whole range of common cancers, an Oxford University study has found.The 20% drop in all cancer deaths seen in the study adds new evidence to the debate about whether otherwise healthy people in their 40s and 50s should consider taking a low dose of aspirin each day.Aspirin is already known to be beneficial for those at high risk of heart disease. But among healthy people, the benefit in lower chances of heart problems only marginally outweighs the small risk of stomach bleeds.The large size of the effect now seen in preventing cancer deaths may begin to tip the balance in favour of taking aspirin, the scientists suggest, but say that it is a matter for the health bodies who write treatment guidelines."These results...

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Use of low-dose aspirin associated with improved performance of test for detecting colorectal cancer

ΩUse of low-dose aspirin prior to a newer type of fecal occult blood test is associated with a higher sensitivity for detecting advanced colorectal tumors, compared to no aspirin use, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA."Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) and its precursors by fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs), which has been shown to reduce CRC incidence and mortality in randomized trials, is widely recommended and applied in an increasing number of countries. Screening is mostly done in age groups in which use of low-dose aspirin for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease is increasingly common. Use of low-dose aspirin increases the likelihood of gastrointestinal bleeding, especially upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Because of the increased risk of bleeding...

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Are depressed people too clean?

ΩIn an effort to pinpoint potential triggers leading to inflammatory responses that eventually contribute to depression, researchers are taking a close look at the immune system of people living in today's cleaner modern society.Rates of depression in younger people have steadily grown to outnumber rates of depression in the older populations and researchers think it may be because of a loss of healthy bacteria.In an article published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, Emory neuroscientist Charles Raison, MD, and colleagues say there is mounting evidence that disruptions in ancient relationships with microorganisms in soil, food and the gut may contribute to the increasing rates of depression.According to the authors, the modern world has become so clean, we are deprived...

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Eating purple fruits such as blueberries and drinking green tea can help ward off diseases including Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's,

See off Alzheimer's with the color purpleGround-breaking research from Professor Douglas Kell, published in the journal Archives of Toxicology, has found that the majority of debilitating illnesses are in part caused by poorly-bound iron which causes the production of dangerous toxins that can react with the components of living systems.These toxins, called hydroxyl radicals, cause degenerative diseases of many kinds in different parts of the body.In order to protect the body from these dangerous varieties of poorly-bound iron, it is vital to take on nutrients, known as iron chelators, which can bind the iron tightly.Brightly-coloured fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of chelators, as is green tea, with purple fruits considered to have the best chance of binding the iron effectively...

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Health Impairment Primarily Due to Bad Lifestye Habits -- Not Aging,

ΩImpairments to health and physical performance are not primarily a result of aging but of unfavorable lifestyle habits and lack of exercise. Sporty elderly people have a life expectancy that is almost 4 years higher and are often faster than younger athletes.In their study, the sports scientists analyzed the stamina of more than 600 000 marathon and half marathon runners and asked participants about their lifestyle habits and their health. Marathon running is particularly suitable for studying because participants have to put in sufficient training hours for the competition, and the athletes accommodate this into their day accordingly.Unfavorable characteristics such as obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity are rarer in runners, and reductions in physical performance are more likely...

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Pattern of drinking affects the relation of alcohol intake to coronary heart disease

ΩA fascinating study published in the BMJ shows that although the French drink more than the Northern Irish each week, as they drink daily, rather than more on less occasions, the French suffered from considerably less coronary heart disease than the Northern Irish. Ruidavets and colleagues compared groups of middle aged men in France and Northern Ireland, who have very different drinking cultures and rates of heart disease.The authors found that men who "binge" drink (drink =50 g of alcohol once a week) had nearly twice the risk of myocardial infarction or death from coronary disease compared with regular drinkers over 10 years of follow-up. Similarly abstainers were at higher risk. 9,778 men aged 50-59, free of ischaemic heart disease at baseline, were recruited between 1991 and 1994. A...

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How Aspirin Works To Prevet Heart Attacks

ΩCharles H. Hennekens, M.D., DrPH, the first Sir Richard Doll Research Professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, has published the results of A Randomized Trial of Aspirin at Clinically Relevant Doses and Nitric Oxide Formation in Humans in the current issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics. These are the first data in humans to show that all doses of aspirin used in clinical practice increase nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is released from the blood vessel wall and may decrease the development and progression of plaques leading to heart attacks and strokes.Hennekens and his colleagues randomized patients at high risk of a first heart attack or stroke to different doses of aspirin for 12 weeks. All doses produced highly...

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High Dietary Fat, Cholesterol Linked to Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer

ΩElevated fat and cholesterol levels found in a typical American-style diet plays an important role in the growth and spread of prostate cancer, say researchers at Thomas Jefferson University’s Kimmel Cancer Center.Their study, the first to show such an association, is published in the December issue of The American Journal of Pathology. It demonstrates how mice eating a Western diet, and predisposed to develop prostate cancer, can develop larger tumors that are faster growing and metastasize more easily to the lungs, compared to animals eating a control diet.In this study, a research team led by Philippe G. Frank, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Jefferson, tried to understand why prostate cancer incidence is low in Asian countries,...

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Omega-3s in fish, seafood may protect seniors' eyes

ΩSeniors interested in lifestyle choices that help protect vision will be encouraged by a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine study, and people concerned about glaucoma can take heart from work on early detection by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Both studies are published in the December issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.New Evidence for Eye-Protective Effects of Omega-3-Rich Fish, ShellfishResearchers at Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, wanted to know how the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) would be affected in a population of older people who regularly ate fish and seafood, since some varieties are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. A diet rich in omega-3s probably protects against advanced...

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Finger length points to prostate cancer risk

ΩMen who have long index fingers are at lower risk of prostate cancer, a new study published today in the British Journal of Cancer has found.The study led by The University of Warwick and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) found men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger were one third less likely to develop the disease than men with the opposite finger length pattern.“Our results show that relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60,” Joint senior author Professor Ros Eeles from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust says. “This exciting finding means that finger pattern could potentially be used to select at-risk men for ongoing screening, perhaps in combination with other factors such as...

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