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Author: Sima

Published on Leave a comment on Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease In Those With Cancer

Something surprising - having cancer is linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and a lower risk of neurodegenerative symptoms (e.g., memory loss) during their lifetimes.

One big analysis and review of 22 studies (representing more then 9.6 million people!) calculated that cancer diagnoses are associated with 11% reduction in Alzheimer's disease occurrence. However, this relationship does not hold true for melanoma. [Also, there is a strong positive correlation between melanoma and Parkinson's disease - which is a neurodegenerative condition.]

There are some theories, but it is still unknown why this lower risk of Alzheimer's disease occurs in persons with cancer.

Excerpts from The Scientist: Cancer Tied to Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

In recent years, scientists around the world have been probing an unexpected trend: The risk of developing cancer seems to have an inverse relationship with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.  ...continue reading "Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease In Those With Cancer"

Published on Leave a comment on Good Reasons to Eat Cranberries

Eating berries frequently or daily has all sorts of health benefits. Two recent studies have focused on daily consumption of cranberries and found them to be beneficial for memory and neural functioning, and also for heart health.

Both studies had persons ingest whole cranberry powder (equivalent to 100 grams or 1 cup of whole cranberries) daily for 12 weeks (memory study) or 1 month (heart study).

While studies usually focus on just one type of berry to try to figure out how and what health benefits are occurring, there is no one berry a person should eat. Eat them all! Studies show they all offer something a little different, and all also have lots of fiber (very important for health!).

Also, eat real foods, not supplements. Again: studies do not find that there is one food or supplement that will prevent health problems or dementia. Eat more fruits, berries, vegetables, and cut back on ultra-processed foods. [See Medscape article below.]

From Medscape: A Cup of Cranberries a Day Tied to Better Memory

For healthy middle-aged and older adults, adding cranberries to the diet may help improve memory and brain function, in addition to lowering LDL cholesterol, new research suggests. ...continue reading "Good Reasons to Eat Cranberries"

Published on Leave a comment on Body Copes Well With One Time Overeating

Summer is when many of us indulge ourselves at barbecues or other social gatherings. Fabulous grilled foods, fresh fruits, pies, whipped cream! You may wonder what gorging yourself until you absolutely can't eat one bite more at one meal does to your body. It turns out it's OK!

A study of young men who either ate pizza till "comfortably full" or "maximal eating" (eating so much that they couldn't eat one more bite) found that the bodies of the men coped very well. Just note, these were normal weight men who normally did not overeat like this (about twice as much food as "comfortably full").

Their metabolism adjusted to overeating the meal, levels of nutrients stayed within normal range, but there was an increase in "prolonged lethargy" and sleepiness several hours after the meal. Yup, many of us know the feeling - just want to take a nap while we digest.

Unfortunately it is unknown how the bodies of women, overweight, and older persons would handle maximal eating of 1 meal (that study not done). But hey! - it's summer, and we can just pretend the study results apply to all of us. Just don't do it all the time...

From Medical Xpress: Pizza study shows body copes surprisingly well with one-off calorie indulgence

A new study, which involved participants eating pizza well after feeling 'full' in order to test what immediate effects this had on the body, finds that our metabolism is surprisingly good at coping with over-indulgence. ...continue reading "Body Copes Well With One Time Overeating"

Published on Leave a comment on The Foods We Eat Contain Live Microbes
Credit: Wikipedia

Every month there is more evidence of the importance of the human microbiome or microbiota - the community of microbes that live in and on us. Trillions of microbes! When we eat food, we eat all the microbes that are in the food, and this has effects on the microbes living in the gut (intestines).

How many microbes do we eat daily? An interesting study was published in 2014 that tried to answer this question. The researchers found that the average American adult ingests between 1 million to over 1 billion microbes every day! It depended on food choices.

Another study just published looked at more than 9000 foods in the US health and dietary database (from 74,466 persons). The researchers estimated the number of live microbes present in all the foods. From that they estimated that the intakes of foods with live microbes were pretty low (about 85 grams/day for children and 127 grams/day for adults). Their results were similar to the earlier 2014 study mentioned above.

They found that around 20% of children and 26% of adults consumed foods with high levels of live microorganisms in their diet. Also, American children and adults have steadily increased their consumption of foods with live microbes over an 18 year period of time - but it still didn't meet guidelines.

The researchers found that fruits, vegetables, and fermented dairy foods were the main sources of microbes, as well as 3 important nutrients which Americans generally do not get enough of: calcium, fiber, and potassium. They also mention that fruits and vegetables have more diverse microbes than fermented dairy foods (yogurts have mainly lactic acid bacteria).

Bottom line: Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and live fermented foods (e.g., yogurt, kefir, fermented pickles, and kimchi) are good ways to increase the number and variety of microbes in your diet. This study did not mention organic foods, but some studies have found more beneficial bacteria in organic produce (e.g., apples).

From Medical Xpress: Quantifying the live microbes on your plate

Many have hypothesized that bacteria and other "friendly" live microorganisms consumed through the diet can play an important role in health. Reduction in dietary microbe consumption has likely contributed to an "impoverished" gut microbiota, which may lead to improper immune system development and an increase in chronic diseases, among other negative health outcomes. ...continue reading "The Foods We Eat Contain Live Microbes"

Published on Leave a comment on Compression Garments Not Needed During Exercise
Credit: Wikipedia

Athletes, exercise enthusiasts, trainers, and coaches have long supported the use of compression garments (compression workout clothes) during exercise, feeling that it helps recovery after the exercise. Stores market and sell such garments, and exercise bloggers promote their use.

Compression garments are form-fitted elastic garments that compress the body and muscles. However, their use has been "controversial" , with most studies not finding a beneficial effect on "immediate or performance recovery, or on delayed onset of muscle soreness".

A recent Japanese review and analysis of studies (published in Sports Medicine) had a similar finding: "Compression garments during or after training does not seem to facilitate the recovery of muscle strength following physical exercise. Practitioners, athletes, coaches, and trainers should reconsider the use of compression garments as a tool to reduce the effects of physical exercise on muscle strength."

From Science Daily: Do compression garments facilitate muscle recovery after exercise?

Compression garments are an elastic cloth fitting that people wear on their arms, legs, or hips during or after physical exercise. Their use has gained popularity over the last few decades because they are thought to enhance muscle recovery following exercise. ...continue reading "Compression Garments Not Needed During Exercise"

Published on Leave a comment on Vaccines May Help With Long COVID

There has been much concern with the persistence and lack of good treatments for persons with long COVID. This is when symptoms persist long-term (for months or years!) after the initial COVID-19 infection, even if the infection seemed pretty mild at the time. The symptoms can be quite severe, even with multiorgan effects, and result in disability.

This is why the possibility of those with long COVID getting the COVID vaccine and showing quick improvement in their symptoms is great news. However, there is debate over how many people with long COVID are actually helped - a review of studies looking at this suggest under 20%. However, the good news is that most people with long COVID slowly improve over time, even without any post COVID vaccines.

Please note: Vaccines reduce the chance of developing long COVID by about half among people who are vaccinated before they develop covid-19.

Excerpts from Medical Xpress: Vaccines may lessen long COVID for some, but more study is needed

Vaccination after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is associated with a decrease in the likelihood of long COVID symptoms, finds a large study of U.K. adults published today by the BMJ . ...continue reading "Vaccines May Help With Long COVID"

Published on Leave a comment on Eating Blueberries Has Health Benefits
Blueberries. Credit: Wikipedia

We have known for a while that frequently eating berries has health benefits. A recent study found that overweight middle-aged persons eating blueberries daily for 12 weeks resulted in both metabolic and memory improvements.

The researchers stated that the results suggest that frequently eating blueberries could be protective against cognitive decline and lower the risk of dementia later on in life.

The study involved thirty-three overweight prediabetic middle-aged adults who already felt that their memory was not as good as in years past. They were randomly assigned to either the blueberry (whole freeze-dried blueberry powder) group or the placebo group (a similar looking powder that did not contain blueberries). The blueberry powder was equivalent to 1/2 cup whole blueberries and was eaten once a day for 12 weeks. The benefits of blueberries are thought to be from micronutrients and anthocyanins, which are antioxidants.

By the way, all berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc.) are slightly different in micronutrients and are viewed as beneficial to health and lowering the risk of chronic diseases, including the risk of dementia. As are colorful fruits and vegetables. Don't focus on just one type of berry - eat them all!

From Medical Xpress: Regular blueberry consumption may reduce risk of dementia, study finds

Researchers led by UC's Robert Krikorian, Ph.D., found that adding blueberries to the daily diets of certain middle-aged populations may lower the chances of developing late-life dementia. ...continue reading "Eating Blueberries Has Health Benefits"

Published on Leave a comment on One Million Deaths And Counting

Any moment now there will be officially 1 million deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. A horrible, horrible number. And while the majority of COVID-19 deaths has been in the elderly, nearly 250,000 has been in persons younger than 65, and around 61,000 of these deaths were in people under the age of 50.

COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among US adults between the ages of 45 to 54 years - 30,361 deaths in 2021! (The  data still isn't in for the last 2 months) More than cancer, heart disease, accidents, etc. Yikes!

There were half a million deaths before the vaccines, and since vaccines - another half a million deaths, primarily in those who were unvaccinated. Actually, it is generally accepted that the number of actual COVID-19 deaths is higher than a million - these are just the known deaths.

Bottom line: Get vaccinated and boosted!

Excerpts from Dr. Jeremy Faust's article at Inside Bulletin, authored by Dr. Jeremy Faust: The million US Covid dead are younger than you think.

One million people have now died of Covid-19 in the United States. As awful as this milestone is on its own terms, it is more painful because so many deaths were preventable. And more of these deaths occurred in younger people than is commonly realized.  ...continue reading "One Million Deaths And Counting"

Published on Leave a comment on Blocking Inflammation After An Injury Can Result In Persistent Pain

The usual medical advice to take non-prescription anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., Advil, Aleve, aspirin) or steroids for pain and inflammation from an injury may actually backfire down the line. A recent study found that blocking inflammation from an injury actually causes an increase in pain and inflammation 3 months later (may become chronic pain), and which is harder to treat.

The McGill University researchers found that drugs that inhibit inflammation interfere with the natural recovery process, thus increasing the odds for chronic pain.  They found that neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infection) play a key role in resolving pain.

"Neutrophils dominate the early stages of inflammation and set the stage for repair of tissue damage. Inflammation occurs for a reason, and it looks like it's dangerous to interfere with it," said Professor Mogil, one of the researchers.

The researchers looked at lower back pain and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and found that the results appeared to hold for both mice and humans.

Bottom line: After an injury such as lower back pain, non-prescription medicines that only block pain are OK to take, for example, Tylenol (Acetaminophen) . It's the anti-inflammatory medicines that could lead to persistent (chronic) pain three months later. View inflammation as part of the healing process - don't want to interfere with that.

Excerpts from Medical Xpress: Discovery reveals blocking inflammation may lead to chronic pain

Using anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids to relieve pain could increase the chances of developing chronic pain, according to researchers from McGill University and colleagues in Italy. Their research puts into question conventional practices used to alleviate pain. Normal recovery from a painful injury involves inflammation and blocking that inflammation with drugs could lead to harder-to-treat pain. ...continue reading "Blocking Inflammation After An Injury Can Result In Persistent Pain"