Science Links
In Other Science News:
New research on potential avocado health benefits presented at International Congress of Nutrition
New research findings on avocado consumption, presented as two posters at the IUNS 20th International Congress of Nutrition, in Granada, Spain suggest that although calorie consumption at dinner was unchanged, inclusion or addition of fresh Hass Avocado to a meal may help to reduce hunger and the desire to eat in overweight adults. Results also showed that including or adding avocado to a meal resulted in smaller post-meal rises in insulin compared to eating a meal without avocado. Read More.
Soy Foods Protect Against Colon Cancer
Lifelong exposure to soy genistein, a bioactive component in soy foods, protects against colon cancer by repressing a signal that leads to accelerated growth of cells, polyps, and eventually malignant tumors, according to a new paper.
Chronic exposure to the soy isoflavone genistein reduced the number of pre-cancerous lesions in the colons of laboratory rats exposed to a carcinogen by 40 percent and reduced Wnt signaling to normal levels. Read More.
Top Ten Cosmetic Urban Legends
Most people have no way of knowing whether something is true or not. This is especially true when it comes to cosmetics and the chemicals that are used in them. Fortunately, there are websites like Snopes and The Beauty Brains to bust the myths behind cosmetics. But I thought it would be amusing to list some of the top 10 myths about beauty products that I could find. Read More.
Shame on you, Sylvia Browne, for telling Amanda Berry’s mother her daughter was dead.
The story of Amanda Berry’s rescue in Cleveland – after ten years in captivity - is extraordinary. In 2004, popular psychic Sylvia Brown told Amanda’s mother that her little girl was dead. Here is a contemporaneous account of that show. Read More.
Mosquito repellents from skin secretions
Those plagued by mosquitoes may one day be able to ditch the DEET in favour of substances naturally produced by skin, according to researchers in the US. Ulrich Bernier, and colleagues, at the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, have identified compounds that scramble the senses of mosquitoes so they can’t detect people nearby. They say safer, more effective repellents based on these substances could help reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria. Read More.
Egg yolk consumption and carotid plaque
Increasingly the potential harm from high cholesterol intake, and specifically from egg yolks, is considered insignificant. We therefore assessed total plaque area (TPA) in patients attending Canadian vascular prevention clinics to determine if the atherosclerosis burden, as a marker of arterial damage, was related to egg intake. To provide perspective on the magnitude of the effect, we also analysed the effect of smoking (pack-years). Read More.
Stop Trashing Eggs: Large Study Finds No Harm
No food has had more ups and downs over the last century or so than the common egg. Following a long period in which eggs were ubiquitous and highly regarded, eggs fell from favor with the rise of concerns over cholesterol. Currently the American Heart Association recommends that people restrict dietary cholesterol to 300 mg per day, which effectively limits people to 1 egg per day at most. However, the relationship of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol is, at best, tenuous, and a significant number of experts now believe that egg consumption poses no risk to cardiovascular health. Read More.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Don't Be Misled
No, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has not been clinically proven to cure or be effective in the treatment of cancer, autism, or diabetes. But do a quick search on the Internet, and you'll see all kinds of claims for these and other diseases for which the device has not been cleared or approved by FDA. Read More.
New treatments better than standard ones just over half the time
USF Distinguished Professor Benjamin Djulbegovic, MD, PhD, has studied the ethics of randomized clinical trials and their effectiveness in evaluating the outcomes of new treatments for decades. Now, in a paper published Aug. 22 in the top journal Nature, Dr. Djulbegovic and colleagues report that on average new treatments work better than existing ones just over half the time. Read More.
Claims raspberries boost fertility 'misleading'
"Eating raspberries could increase your chances of becoming a father," the Mail Online website reports, with the Daily Express making similar claims. But these claims are not backed up by the evidence, as the stories seem to be based on the opinion of just one fertility nutritionist. Read More.
High coffee intake may help against prostate cancer
Consuming four or more cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of prostate cancer recurrence and disease progression, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle analyzed 1,001 prostate cancer survivors from a population-based study, aged between 35 and 74 years of age. All survivors had been diagnosed with the disease between 2002 and 2005. Read More.
Healthy Eating Might Ward Off Pancreatic Cancer: Study
In a study of more than 500,000 Americans, those who ate a healthy diet reduced their risk for pancreatic cancer by 15 percent.
The diet used in the study followed federal dietary guidelines from 2005 and recommended eating a variety of nutritional foods and limiting saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt and alcohol. Read More.
High BPA levels in children associated with higher risk of obesity and abnormal waist circumference
Children who have higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical previously used in many products for kids, like baby bottle and plastic toys, had a higher odds of obesity and adverse levels of body fat, according to a new study from University of Michigan researchers. Read More.
3-D images show flame retardants can mimic estrogens in NIH study
By determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins at the atomic level, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered how some commonly used flame retardants, called brominated flame retardants (BFRs), can mimic estrogen hormones and possibly disrupt the body's endocrine system. BFRs are chemicals added or applied to materials to slow or prevent the start or growth of fire. Read More.
Back to school anti-vaccination woo
We’re already seeing back-to-school shopping specials – even though it’s just the second day of August.
And we’re already seeing some anti-vaccination campaigns getting in full gear as well, reflecting on regulations requiring parents to have kids’ vaccinations up to date prior to the start of school. Read More.
Scientists learn how soy foods protect against colon cancer
University of Illinois scientists have evidence that lifelong exposure to genistein, a bioactive component in soy foods, protects against colon cancer by repressing a signal that leads to accelerated growth of cells, polyps, and eventually malignant tumors. "In our study, we report a change in the expression of three genes that control an important signaling pathway," said Hong Chen, a U of I professor of food science and human nutrition. The cells in the lining of the human gut turn over and are completely replaced weekly, she noted. Read More.
Illinois scientists put cancer-fighting power back into frozen broccoli
There was bad news, then good news from University of Illinois broccoli researchers this month. In the first study, they learned that frozen broccoli lacks the ability to form sulforaphane, the cancer-fighting phytochemical in fresh broccoli. But a second study demonstrated how the food industry can act to restore the frozen vegetable’s health benefits. Read More.
New study: Magic Mushrooms Repair Brain Damage From Extreme Trauma
A new study by The University of South Florida has found that low doses of the active ingredient in magic mushrooms repairs brain damage caused by extreme trauma, offering renewed hope to millions of sufferers of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). The study confirms previous research by Imperial College London, that psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound present in "shrooms", stimulates new brain cell growth and erases frightening memories. Read More.
Homeopathy First Aid Kits
I don’t know how I missed them, but somehow homeopathic first aid kits had not registered on my radar. They’re readily available. Even Amazon.com sells them, for $54.99. They contain 18 vials of tiny sugar pills, all with potencies of 200C, guaranteed by Avogadro not to contain a single molecule of the active ingredient. (For those of you who may not know, Avogadro was the Italian scientist who discovered the Avogadro constant, the number of atoms needed such that the number of grams of a substance equals the atomic mass of the substance. Read More.
Channel Blockers for Blood Pressure Linked to Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds
Postmenopausal women who use a type of blood pressure-lowering medication called a calcium channel blocker may have increased odds of developing breast cancer, new research suggests. Long-time users of these drugs have more than double the risk for getting breast cancer compared to women not using the medications, according to the study, published Aug. 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Read More.
How is coconut oil different from palm oil?
Coconut oil and palm oil are very closely related. Coconut oil comes from the coconut palm tree (Cocos nucifera) while Palm oil comes from the oil palm tree (elaeis guineensis). Both types of trees belong to the general class known as “palm.” The oil expressed from the respective nuts of these trees (actually they’re considered to be fruits) are similar but with some important differences. Read More.
Shakeology Shakedown
Via Pharmadaddy, an occasional contributor to SBP, comes a detailed analysis of the MLM-marketed protein supplement called Shakeology. Read More.
Toxicologists enter the fray on endocrine disruptors
A group of toxicologists has written to European commission chief scientific adviser Anne Glover urging her to rethink plans to regulate endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The toxicologists are concerned that the commission, whose strategy on EDCs is due out later this year, have produced draft regulations without consulting the relevant scientific committees. Read More.
How far a person lives from a manufacturing plant that releases the chemical benzene into the environment may determine their risk of developing immune system cancer, a new study suggests. Read More.
Sleep patterns could be affected by the full moon
“Full Moon 'disturbs a good night's sleep'” reports BBC News.
This story is based on an analysis of data the researchers decided to do “after a drink in a local bar one evening at full moon”. Read More.
Food to blame for more children choking
Researchers analyzed data on non-fatal food-related choking among US children aged 14 years or under between 2001 and 2009. The researchers are from the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and worked alongside colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read More.
Food is main source of BPA for consumers, thermal paper also potentially significant
EFSA's scientific experts have provisionally concluded that for all population groups diet is the major source of exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and exposure is lower than previously estimated by EFSA. BPA is a chemical compound used in food contact materials such as packaging as well as in other consumer products. This is the Authority's first review of exposure to BPA since 2006 and the first to cover both dietary and non-dietary sources (including thermal paper and environmental sources such as air and dust). Read More.
Prenatal and childhood BPA exposure linked to anxiety, hyperactivity in boys
Boys exposed to higher BPA concentrations as a fetus or during early childhood were more likely to suffer from anxiety, aggression, depression and hyperactivity at age 7, according to a new study. No association was found for girls. The new research adds to a growing body of evidence linking BPA to behavioral problems in children. Read More.
Brazil's new generation of Thalidomide babies
A new scientific study seen exclusively by the BBC indicates that the drug Thalidomide is still causing birth defects in Brazil today. It's been given to people suffering from leprosy to ease some of their symptoms, and some women have taken it unaware of the risks they run when pregnant. Read More.
F.D.A. Closer to Decision About Menthol Cigarettes
Moving closer to a decision on whether to ban menthol in cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration released a scientific review on Tuesday that found the mint flavoring made it easier to start smoking and harder to quit, and solicited public comment on “potential regulation” of menthol flavored cigarettes. Read More.
WHO had asked India to ban toxin that killed children
As early as 2009, the United Nations health agency urged India to consider a ban on the pesticide monocrotophos - the substance said by a magistrate investigating the deaths to be the cause of the poisoning.It had also warned that in India - against strong international health warnings - many pesticide containers are not thrown away after use but recycled and used for storing water, food and other consumables. Read More.
Can Natural Products Protect You From Mosquitoes With West Nile Virus?
Almost 40,000 people in the United States developed West Nile virus last year and 1,549 died because of it. Compare that to 1999, the first year the disease was seen in North America, when only 62 people were reported infected. Read More.
Researcher Finds Anti-Cancer Agent Is No Wonder Drug
A University of Guelph study has found that a prescription drug thought to have anti-cancer properties when used off-label may not only be less effective than claimed but may actually protect some kinds of cancers. Read More.
Prickly PainkillerRecently researchers have begun working with a toxin found in a Moroccan cactuslike plant that may be able to deliver permanent, local pain relief with a single injection. Read More.
Nanomagnets Clean Blood
Nanoparticles that never have to enter the body can capture harmful components in blood, scientists in Switzerland have shown. Removing unwanted molecules from the blood is the most direct way to cure or prevent many illnesses. An example of this approach is dialysis where small molecules like urea are filtered out to treat patients with renal failure. Read More.
Indian cooks recall horror of kids' school lunch deaths
Soon after they served the daily free lunch they had prepared for dozens of children at a rural Indian school, the two cooks realized something was very wrong. The students started fainting. Within hours, they began dying. Read More.
Opposition to Fluoridated Water is Baffling
Why are people opposed to fluoridation? The answer is mired in a mix of emotion, hearsay and slanted science. Read More.
Ask the (Science-Based) Pharmacist: What are the benefits of coffee enemas?
It might not occur to you, sipping your morning coffee, that you could derive tremendous health benefits by simply shooting that coffee directly into your rectum. Yet many people believe this. Suzy Cohen, who calls herself, “America’s Pharmacist™” and also “America’s Most Trusted Pharmacist®” is a proponent. Read More.
Epigenetics offers a glimmer of hope for anorexia treatment
Most people know that anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness associated with the maintenance of low weight and fear of weight gain. But we know very little about what causes this destructive disease, which is associated with the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness. Read more
Dad's Sperm Passes Obesity OnNew research from the University of Adelaide shows that the sperm of obese fathers could increase the risk of both their children and their grandchildren to inherit obesity. In laboratory studies, researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have found that molecular signals in the sperm of obese fathers can lead to obesity and diabetes-like symptoms in two generations of offspring, even though the offspring are eating healthily. Read more
Using a crop popular in the Bronze Age but almost unknown today, University of Sydney scientists have helped pave the way to creating wheat resistant to the fungal disease stem rust. "Wheat crops worldwide are vulnerable to this fungal disease and it has ruined entire harvests in Africa and the Middle East. Read more
Choir Singers Synchronize Heartbeats
When members of a choir get together, they do more than harmonize their voices. Singing demands certain breathing patterns, and as breathing becomes coordinated, heart rates follow, according to research published Tuesday (July 9) in Frontiers in Psychology. It’s been known since the mid-1800s that respiration rate and variability in heart rate are linked. In general, pulse increases during inhalation and decreases during exhalation. Read more
Unexpected Cutlery Makes Food Taste Bad
Looking to lose weight? Don't buy low-fat products—just change your spoon. A new study reveals that the type of cutlery we use can have a dramatic impact on how food tastes. Researchers gave volunteers plain Greek yogurt and asked them to eat it with either a white plastic spoon, a darker colored plastic spoon, or a heavier plastic spoon that looked like the white one. Read more
Anti-Antiogenesis: Cutting Off Tumour Supply Lines
Cancer cells are commonly present in the body, but cannot grow into tumors without hooking up a blood supply. Angiogenesis inhibitors in plant foods may help prevent this from happening. Watch the video
Supercooled Water Transforms into New Form of Liquid
Researchers at the University of Arkansas have identified that water, when chilled to a very low temperature, transforms into a new form of liquid. Through a simulation performed in “supercooled” water, a research team led by chemist Feng “Seymour” Wang, confirmed a “liquid-liquid” phase transition at 207 Kelvins, or 87 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale. Read more
Brain Test to Diagnose ADHD is Approved
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday that it had approved the first brain wave test to help diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.The test uses an electroencephalogram, or EEG, with sensors attached to a child’s head and hooked by wires to a computer to measure brain waves. Read more
Testes size correlates with men's involvement in toddler care
Men with smaller testes than others are more likely to be involved in hands-on care of their toddlers, finds a new study by anthropologists at Emory University. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the results of the study on Sept. 9. Read More.