Health knowledge made personal
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Francesca Giampieri, Jose M. Alvarez-Suarez, Sara Tulipani, Ana M. Gonzales-Paramas, Celestino Santos-Buelga, Maurizio Battino, et al. “Photoprotective Potential of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) Extract against UV-A Irradiation Damage on Human Fibroblasts.” J. Agric. Food Chem., 2012, 60 (9), pp 2322–2327.
Daily consumption of dried apples for six months lowers total cholesterol by 13%, and LDL ("bad") cholesterol by 24%, among postmenopausal women.
Roofers and road construction workers who use hot asphalt experience elevated blood high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Strawberry extract added to skin cell cultures acts as a protector against ultraviolet radiation, as well as increasing its viability and reducing damage to DNA
Why women live, on average, longer than men may be explained by genetic variation across mitochondria – the energy powerhouses of cells.
Natural approaches to help shed pounds confer health benefits that last up to 10 years.
Motor function and balance in stroke survivors improve with group yoga sessions starting as late as six or more months after the stroke.
Supplementation with chlorella, a single-cell green algae cultivated for its bioactive substances, increases Natural Killer (NK) cell activity.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections doubled at academic medical centers in the US in a five-year period.
Large-scale population based study suggests that people with anxiety depression, and other mental health problems have a higher risk of early death.
Adult stem cells extracted from one's own fat tissue, then cultured into sheets, and rolled into tiny vessels performed as well as natural blood vessels.
Nanoparticles, bound to compounds found in tea leaves, reduced tumors by 80%, in a lab animal model.
Researchers submit that by raising the Vitamin C recommended dietary allowance (RDA), cases of heart disease, stroke, and cancer might be slashed.
Physical activity – either mild or intense and before or after menopause – may reduce breast cancer risk, but substantial weight gain may negate these benefits.
Fetal exposure to the plastic additive BPA has been shown to alter mammary gland development and plays a role in the development of breast cancer in humans.
Carvacrol, a compound found in oregano, is shown to induce prostate cancer cell death.
Swedish researchers report that cadmium, present agricultural crops as a result of farm fertilizers, is linked to an increased incidence of breast cancers.
Whereas red meat may increase total, cardiovascular, and cancer death risks, appropriate substitutions may lower those same risks.
Radon is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of uranium or thorium.
The erosion of protective telomere caps, with subsequent enzymatic activation, promotes the ability of prostate cancer cells to become more deadly.
US FDA finds that 400 lipsticks on the market test positive for lead.
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33. Keep Your Family Close, and Your Friends Closer
People with a close circle of friends may outlive those who merely have strong family ties. From the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging, involving 1,477 men and women aged 70 or more, researchers from Flinders University (Australia) determined in 2005 that greater networks of friends protected against death during a ten-year study period. Having a small circle of confidants, or a social network comprised of solely of relatives, were far weaker contributors to longevity.
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The earth receives the sun's ultraviolet A (long-wave) and ultraviolet B (shortwave) rays. Exposure to UV-A radiation is known to induce discrete lesions in DNA and the generation of free radicals that lead to a wide array of skin diseases. Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) contains a number of polyphenols with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Maurizio Battino, from the Universita Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), and colleagues prepared human skin cell cultures (fibroblasts) and added strawberry extract in different concentrations (0.05, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml), the only exception being the control extract. Using ultraviolet light, the samples were then exposed to a dose "equivalent to 90 minutes of midday summer sun in the French Riviera." Data confirm that the strawberry extract, especially at a concentration of 0.5 mg/ml, displays photoprotective properties in those fibroblasts exposed to UVA radiation, it increases cell survival and viability and decreases damage in the DNA when compared with control cells. The study authors conclude that: “our data show that strawberry contains compounds that confer photoprotective activity in human cell lines and may protect skin against the adverse effects of UV-A radiation.”