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Canadian research points to an unfriendly result of nanoparticle exposure. Luckily for Americans our heads don't open and shut when we talk.

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A computer simulation shows a buckyball cluster moving through a cell wall, then dispersing inside the cell.  (Source: Peter Tieleman, University of Calgary)

Canadian research points to an unfriendly result of nanoparticle exposure.

One of the hottest topics in science lately, whether it concerns medical, industrial, aerospace, computing or one of a bucket full of various branches of science, is nanotechnology. Though there are any number of nanoparticle-based inventions roaming around and endless numbers of researchers creating new uses and machines every day, the most popular particles are probably the buckyball and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Between the two pure-carbon particles, it seems like the advancement of anything from cancer treatment to fuel cells will be possible.

Of growing concern lately, however, is how these particles might affect the human body in the long term. CNT-based cancer treatments sound like a wonderful idea, but what happens to all those used up CNTs and what damage might they themselves inflict after destroying those hated cancer cells?

Several groups are proposing stricter controls for nanotechnology and declaring the need for more research into the effects of nanoparticles on humans. One recent study showed that CNTs of a certain length act disturbingly like asbestos particles when they enter the lungs of laboratory rats, either by injection or inhalation.

Last week another group published results of a computer modeled study of what interactions buckyballs, 60 atom carbon molecules shaped like a soccer ball, might have with cells in living beings. Their data has been published in the Advance Online Publication section of the popular Nature Nanotechnology journal as a paper titled “Computer simulation study of fullerene translocation through lipid membranes.”

The group, from the University of Calgary, used the computing power of WestGrid to run their simulations, which involved buckyball clusters interacting with lipid cell membranes. Their simulations found that the molecules were able to dissolve into the cell membrane, passing through it without causing mechanical damage, and reform in the cell's interior. Once inside the cell, the buckyballs could cause damage to the cells.

Peter Tieleman, one of the study's leaders, explains “buckyballs are already being made on a commercial scale for use in coatings and materials but we have not determined their toxicity. There are studies showing that they can cross the blood-brain barrier and alter cell functions, which raises a lot of questions about their toxicity and what impact they may have if released into the environment.”

Obesity fuels growing ‘boy-boob’ problem. I don't see the problem - they always have female boobs "handy".

Obesity has been blamed for the growing problem of “boy-boobs” – cases of teenage boys with breasts so well developed that surgery is needed to reduce them.

Doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool say that they are seeing dozens of teenagers every year with gynaecomastia, the condition in which males develop breasts.

Christian Duncan, a plastic surgeon specialising in obesity-related surgery, said that in the past 12 months he had performed at least 20 breast-reduction operations on young boys who had developed the condition.

Mr Duncan is treating others who do not yet qualify for surgery by encouraging them to make changes to their lifestyle, such as starting a healthy diet or beginning an exercise programme.

He believes that the condition is becoming more common among teenage boys in Liverpool, and that it can cause “terrible damage” to their lives and their self-esteem.

While some boys are simply fat, giving the appearance that they have breasts, those who develop gynaecomastia face a greater problem: the growth of firm female breast tissue under the nipples, Mr Duncan said. This condition is caused by a hormone imbalance during adolescence and in many cases resolves itself naturally. There is some evidence that the imbalance can be triggered by obesity.

Mr Duncan said: “This is different to someone just being overweight. These are firm female breasts, something that any woman would be proud of. There isn’t one month that has passed in the past 12 months where I have not seen a new patient with this condition. It used to be much less common and I am afraid it is a sign of the growing problem of childhood obesity.

“We try to teach these boys about making lifestyle adjustments, like getting them to go to the gym, but they just won’t go. They become very self-conscious and it can start to affect their ability to socialise and concentrate at school. Often they are bullied. To rectify the problem for them we basically use liposuction to remove the glandular and breast tissue and fat from around the chest to give a flatter appearance.”

Mr Duncan said he believed that the boys’ poor diet was causing an imbalance in their hormones, resulting in their developing breasts.

He said: “Both men and women have breast tissue but there is something about obesity that triggers hormone imbalances and causes an unnatural growth in these boys.

“If nothing is done to stop the growing tide of childhood obesity in the city I expect to see more cases year-on-year.”

More than one cause

— Breast reduction operations in men have increased sharply in recent years. Whether this increase is because of a greater incidence of gynaecomastia or a greater availability of cosmetic surgery is unclear

— In men the condition can have a number of causes, including body-building drugs, recreational drugs, cancer, diseases of the liver or kidney, and obesity. It may affect one breast, or both

— Some doctors have blamed increased levels of female hormones, or chemicals that mimic their effect, that are in the environment. In boys, the condition is very common but usually resolves itself without treatment as the hormone balance in the body stabilises at the end of adolescence

Been avoiding salt for your health? Oops -- you're more likely to die than those who have high salt diets.

Contrary to long-held assumptions, high-salt diets may not increase the risk of death, according to investigators from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. They reached their conclusion after examining dietary intake among a nationally representative sample of adults in the U.S. The Einstein researchers actually observed a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with lower sodium diets. They report their findings in the advance online edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The researchers analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which was conducted by the federal government among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. These data were then compared against death records that had been collected by the government through the year 2000. The sample of approximately 8,700 represented American adults who were over 30 years of age at the time of the baseline survey (1988-1994) and were not on a special low-salt diet.

After adjusting for known CVD risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes and blood pressure, the one-fourth of the sample who reported consuming the lowest amount of sodium were found to be 80% more likely to die from CVD compared to the one-fourth of the sample consuming the highest level of sodium. The risk for death from any cause appeared 24% greater for those consuming lower salt, but this latter difference was not quite large enough to dismiss the role of chance.

"Our findings suggest that for the general adult population, higher sodium is very unlikely to be independently associated with higher risk of death from CVD or all other causes of death," says Dr. Hillel W. Cohen, lead author of the study and associate professor of epidemiology and population health at Einstein.

Since the first NHANES survey in the early 1970s, data from NHANES have been used extensively to describe patterns of nutrition and health in the U.S. The results from this current study are consistent with findings reported previously from two earlier NHANES surveys. While the federal government currently repeats NHANES surveys every two years, NHANES III is the latest available survey that can be compared with later death records.

Since NHANES III was an observational study and not a clinical trial, no definite conclusions about cause and effect were possible, says Dr. Cohen. "However, our findings do again raise questions about the usefulness or evensafety of universal recommendations for lower salt diets for all individuals, regardless of their blood pressure status or other health characteristics," he cautions.

Other Einstein researchers on the study were Dr. Susan M. Hailpern and Dr. Michael H. Alderman.

In a stunning finding, study finds that you have the same amount of fat cells your whole life.

Every year, whether you are fat or thin, whether you lose weight or gain, 10 percent of your fat cells die. And every year, those cells that die are replaced with new fat cells, researchers in Sweden reported.

The result is that the total number of fat cells in the body remains the same, year after year throughout adulthood. Losing or gaining weight affects only the amount of fat stored in the cells, not the number of cells.

The finding was published online Sunday in the journal Nature.

Obesity investigators say the study raises tantalizing questions: What determines how many fat cells are in a person's body? When is that number determined? Is there a way to intervene so people end up with fewer fat cells when they reach adulthood? And could obesity be treated by making fat cells die faster than they are born?                                                             

"This is a new way of looking at obesity," said Dr. Lester Salans, an obesity researcher and emeritus professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

But for now, researchers say, they do not have a clue about how to answer those questions.

"There is a system waiting to be discovered," said Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, an obesity researcher and dean of Harvard Medical School.

Flier and other obesity researchers cautioned, though, that even if scientists knew how the fat cell system worked, it was not clear that it would be safe or effective to treat obesity by intervening. One of the hard lessons of the past couple of decades has been that the body has redundant controls to maintain weight.

"I suspect that the body's regulation of weight is so complex that if you intervene at this site, something else is going to happen to neutralize this intervention," Salans said.

But the discovery is also leading to new ways to address other questions about obesity. For example, what happens to people who are thin until adulthood and then gain a lot of weight? The study focused on people who had been fat since childhood, the usual route for adult obesity. The situation may be different for people who got fat later. They may actually grow new fat cells — the ones they had may have become so stuffed with fat that they could hold no more.

Another question is whether fat cells removed with liposuction grow back.

Both questions are now under investigation by the Swedish researchers

Study: Harder For Woman To Lose Weight Than Men

  New research confirms what many frustrated women have long suspected: women have a harder time losing weight with exercise compared to men.

When it comes to exercise there are a lot of differences between the sexes. New research helps doctors give advice about the best type of exercise, how long and how intense a workout should be for a woman compared to a man.

The American College of Sports Medicine published the study that says men have a distinct advantage because they don't have to work out as long or as hard as a woman to get in shape. Men are also less likely to get hurt when they exercise.

Women can use the new information to get the results they want. While exercise in men speeds metabolism right off the bat, a woman's body reacts to exercise like a short term starvation and metabolism slows down to preserve weight, but only for about two to three weeks. That means women have to start exercise and stick with it. Stopping and starting is not good.

Women also burn more fat with longer sessions of exercise that are less intense. So if a woman can go a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes at a clip, they will drop pounds.

Because of hormone fluctuations and anatomy, women are a little more prone to injury compared to men, especially knee problems. The best prevention is not to do the same exercise day in and out. A little cross training is a good idea.

Women also tend to have less muscle mass than men, and since muscle burns more calories than any other type of tissue, the more muscle the better. So a little weight training is a good idea as well.

Wanted: Women to eat chocolate for a year

Scientists in the UK are seeking 150 women to eat chocolate every day for a year in the cause of medical research.    

Women taking part in the study must eat one bar of chocolate a day.

The trial, at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, eastern England, will test whether a natural compound found in cocoa, the main ingredient of chocolate, could cut the risk of heart disease among women with diabetes.

A Belgian confectionist has created the special chocolate bar containing high levels of flavonoids -- a plant compound that has been shown to reduce heart risk factors -- to be used in the experiment. Soy, another natural source of flavonoids, has also been added to the bar.

Participants, who must be postmenopausal women under the age of 70, will have their risk of heart disease tested on five occasions during the year to see whether change occurs.

"The hypothesis of this exciting study is that flavonoids may improve the level of protection against heart disease over and above that provided by conventional drugs," said Dr. Ketan Dhatariya, a consultant in diabetes at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

"If the trial confirms this, it could have a far-reaching impact on the advice we give to postmenopausal women who have type 2 diabetes."

Deaths due to heart disease among women increase rapidly after the menopause. For women who suffer from type 2 diabetes, the risk of heart disease is up to three and a half times higher. Type 2 diabetes is caused when the body fails to produce enough insulin or produces insulin that doesn't work properly and is frequently linked with obesity.

"Despite postmenopausal women being at a similar risk to men for developing cardiovascular disease, to date they are under-represented in clinical trials," said Professor Aedin Cassidy, Professor of Diet and Health at UEA, who is heading the research.

"We hope to show that adding flavonoids to their diets will provide additional protection from heart disease and give women the opportunity to take more control over reducing their risk of heart disease in the future."

It's our worst flu season in four years

I can tell you that I haven't had the Flu for many years and this year despite the vaccine I got it.  And this was a BAD year for them to screw up the types.  Started off with a flu and cough.  Flu lasted 4 days and then the cough didn't go away.  Doctor said it would last a week or more.  Three weeks later I went back to the doctor because the cough was still there and I had been tired for a month.  Had pan-situtitus, and secondary bronchitis.   Ended up taking 10 days of  a major antibiotic, sudafed for 14 days, and Afrin for 7 days.  And finally now it's going away.

I heard the other strain that was going around was a stomach strain that causes all the worst kinds of stomach related symptoms (but only lasts a few days).  Ick.


ATLANTA - The current flu season has shaped up to be the worst in four years, partly because the vaccine didn't work well against the viruses that made most people sick, health officials said Thursday.

This season's vaccine was the worst match since 1997-98, when the vaccine didn't work at all against the circulating virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2007-08 season started slowly, peaked in mid-February and seems to be declining, although cases are still being reported, CDC officials said.

Based on adult deaths from flu and pneumonia, this season is the worst since 2003-04, another time when the vaccine did not include the exact flu strain responsible for most illnesses.

Each year, health officials, making essentially an educated guess, formulate a vaccine against three viruses they think will be circulating. They guess well most of the time, and the vaccine is often between 70 and 90 percent effective.

But this year, two of the three strains were not good matches and the vaccine was only 44 percent effective, according to a study done in Marshfield, Wis. That seemed to match the experience in other parts of the country.

The CDC compares flu seasons by looking at adult deaths from the flu or pneumonia in 122 cities. This year, those deaths peaked at 9 percent of all reported deaths in early March, and remained above an epidemic threshold for 13 consecutive weeks. In 2003-2004, they peaked at more than 10 percent of all deaths, and surpassed the epidemic threshold for nine weeks.

Pediatric deaths are another way flu seasons are compared. So far this season, 66 children died, including 46 who were not vaccinated. In 2003-2004, 153 children died.

This year, most of the illness has been due to Type A H3N2 Brisbane strain, which was not in the vaccine. That strain tends to cause more hospitalizations and deaths, contributing to this season's severity, CDC officials said.

Type B Florida strain, also absent from this year's vaccine, has also been causing illness. Marshfield data showed that the vaccine was completely ineffective against the Type B virus, and was 58 percent effective against the Brisbane virus.

Popping vitamins could seriously damage health

HEALTHY people who take vitamin supplements were last night urged to be careful after research suggested they may do more harm than good.

Welsh health experts advised people to meet their nutritional needs by eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

There were also calls for tighter regulation of the sale of vitamins and minerals, which the public can buy “like sweets”, according to dietary advice groups.

The warning comes after researchers found that people who take antioxidant supplements, including vitamins A and E, to try to keep diseases such as cancer at bay, could in fact be interfering with their natural body defences and may be increasing their risk of an early death by up to 16%.

About 12 million Britons supplement their diets with vitamins and the industry is worth about £330m a year.

Paul Walker, chairman of the National Public Health Association Cymru, said: “We all need vitamins up to a certain level, but there is a misconception that taking more must be good for you.

“The evidence shows that this isn’t true. Having too much does no good and, in fact, could do people harm.

“The key is to have a very varied diet with at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

“More regulation of this industry is probably required.”

Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, C and beta-carotene and selenium, are said to mop up disease-causing compounds called free radicals. It is this action that researchers say may cause problems with the defence system.

The research by Copenhagen University, released by the influential Cochrane Library, applied only to synthetic supplements and not to vitamins that occur naturally in vegetables and fruit.

Researchers carried out a review of 67 studies on 230,000 healthy people and found “no convincing evidence” that any of the antioxidants helped to prolong life expectancy but some “increased mortality”.

They found that vitamin A supplements increased the risk of death in healthy people by 16%. Taking beta-carotene was linked to a 7% increased risk, while regular users of vitamin E supplements increased the risk of an early death by 4%.

Although the review found no significant detrimental effect caused by vitamin C, it found no evidence that it helped ward off disease. Millions take it in the hope of avoiding a common cold.

Goran Bjelakovic, who led the review, said: “We could find no evidence to support taking antioxidant supplements to reduce the risk of dying earlier in healthy people or patients with various diseases.

“If anything, people in trial groups given the antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E showed increased rates of mortality.”

Catherine Collins of the British Dietetic Association said: “This study is deeply worrying and shows that there should be more regulation for vitamins and minerals.

“The public can buy vitamins as easily as sweets. They should be treated in the same way as paracetamol with maximum limits on the dosage.”

Camille Clarke, a naturopathic nutritionist, based at the Natural Health Clinic in Cathedral Road, Cardiff, backed calls for tighter controls.

“It [the industry] needs to be regulated, vitamins are too freely available,” said Camille, who urged people to opt for naturally- occurring vitamins.

“People read things in magazines and they are taking huge amounts of vitamins and minerals but have a terrible diet.

“There’s no point in taking vitamins if you don’t have a healthy diet. You should only take them if you have a health problem and only for a little while.”

Denise Parish, a lecturer in dietetics at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and a state registered dietician of 14 years, said: “As a general rule there is no evidence to say taking vitamins is of any benefit. Actually eating the foods that contain them is the best way of getting antioxidants.”

She said the only people who should take vitamin supplements are those who have particular health problems or pregnant women who are advised to take folate.

The chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, said: “A good balanced diet which includes fresh fruit and vegetables will always provide individuals with the vitamins that they need.

“We would always advise people not to rely on such supplements as their primary source of vitamin intake.”

Nutritionists say too much fibre and too little fat on nursery menus can lead to stunted growth

 

Nurseries were found to be applying principles of adult healthy eating to young children.

For years nutritionists have recommended a diet high in fibre and low in fat, with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Now, however, nurseries are being told the food they serve in accordance with these guidelines is unsuitable for toddlers and could lead to vitamin deficiencies and even stunted growth.

'Nurseries are applying the principles of adult healthy eating to the food they are supplying to young children,' said Sarah Almond, a consultant specialist paediatric dietician who has analysed the results of a trading standards study into nursery food.

'We expected the study to show nurseries were serving children food that was too high in calories, fat, saturated fat and salt, and low in vegetables and fruit. Instead, we found that the majority of nurseries had gone to the other extreme and appeared to be providing food that was too low in calories, fat and saturated fat and too high in fruit and vegetables.' This situation was putting children at the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies, she said.

The research also found that four out of five nurseries were giving children portions that were too small and only three in 10 provided them with meals containing enough calories. According to Almond, the under-five age group has different and specific nutritional requirements to those children of school age: pre-school children have a high energy and nutrient requirement. Because they have a small stomach and a relatively under-developed gut, they cannot consume large quantities of food at a time but need frequent small meals and snacks throughout the day.

In addition, too much fibre - such as that absorbed through over-consumption of fruit and vegetables - can result in insufficient intake of other food groups and inhibit the absorption of key minerals. 'Because a significant number of children attend nurseries from 7am until 7pm, the food and nutrition they receive there are key to their health,' said Almond. 'Nurseries are applying requirements of healthy eating for school-age children and adults to the one-to-four age group, who have entirely different requirements.'

In contrast to school meals, there are no government regulations for the provision of toddlers' meals. Guidelines from Ofsted and the government on healthy food for young children offer nurseries only general advice, with a suggestion that childcare agencies refer to the Food Standards Agency's advice on food and nutrition for young children. Experts say the lack of national legislation means the trading standards study, which analysed samples from one week's worth of breakfast, snacks, lunch and supper from every nursery in East Sussex, is likely to be an accurate reflection of the national picture.

'The majority of nurseries are confused or misinformed about what entails healthy eating for the under-five age group,' said Neil Leitch, campaign director of the Feeding Young Imaginations at the Pre-School Learning Alliance. 'They are over-focusing on the message about eating five portions of fruit and vegetable a day and forgetting that it is completely inappropriate to simply purée a meal that would be healthy for a four-year-old and feed it to a two-year-old.

'The nutritional content of toddlers' meals is a proper science and nurseries are simply not aware of vital calories, fats, carbohydrate, sugars, fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals.'

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries' Association, agreed: 'Nationally, nurseries face conflicting advice about food. Consistent advice from Ofsted and other bodies about nutritional requirements for this age group are badly needed.'

Washing produce doesn't remove bacteria: report

Washing produce doesn't remove bacteria: report

Washing fruits and vegetables with water is not enough to remove common bacteria that can cause severe illness, a new report says.

The researchers injected food-borne bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella into vegetables and then tried various common ways to clean them, including water and a sodium hypochlorite treatment.

Both the water and the chemical solution did not significantly reduce the bacteria levels. Only irradiation killed 99.9 per cent of harmful bacteria. Irradiation is an electron beam that alters a cell's genetic material, thereby killing harmful parasites, germs and insects.

The research, conducted by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that bacteria can sometimes be hard to wash away.

"When bacteria are protected -- whether they're inside a leaf or inside a biofilm -- they're not going to be as easy to kill," Brendan A. Niemira, the study director and a microbiologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, said in a statement.

"This is the first study to look at the use of irradiation on bacteria that reside inside the inner spaces of a leaf or buried within a biofilm."

However, irradiation is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and there is some concern that it compromises nutritional values.

But advocates say that using irradiation on fresh fruits and vegetables could help reduce incidence rates of food-borne illnesses. Salmonella and E. coli can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea.

Fruits and vegetables can become contaminated because they are usually grown outdoors, where they can be exposed to germs from animals, soil, manure and irrigation water.

The study was presented Thursday at an American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans.

Fatal falls soar among the elderly

The number of senior citizens dying from falls in Massachusetts rose dramatically in 2006, a finding so alarming to public health authorities that they have begun reviewing hundreds of death certificates for clues that might explain the increase.

                           

That year, 341 people ages 65 and older died from falls in the state, an increase of nearly two-thirds from the year before and the highest total on record. Falls kill nearly as many people in Massachusetts as vehicular accidents, and reducing their incidence has become a major focus of hospitals, nursing homes, and health agencies in recent years.

The steep one-year rise, which is detailed in a state report being released this morning, left specialists in aging and public health deeply concerned.

"We're scratching our heads with the size of the jump," said Alice Bonner, executive director of the Massachusetts Long Term Care Foundation, the research arm of the state's nursing home trade group.

Yesterday, state investigators and advocates for the elderly pointed to a broad range of potential reasons for the rise in fatal falls, touching on everything from medication to weather. As people age, their medicine cabinets bulge with more and more prescription drugs that can dangerously interact, spawning problems with balance. Falls can increase during winter months when ice makes walking outdoors hazardous.

The investigation by the state Department of Public Health will mine death certificates for any telling details that, taken together, might sketch a narrative for the increase. The reviewers want to know where the senior citizens died. They want to know about their age, gender, race, ethnicity, and underlying medical problems.

John Auerbach, the state's public health commissioner, acknowledged that heightened awareness about falls may have yielded more vigilant reporting of them on death certificates, although investigators have found no evidence of that so far.

"The bottom line is that the numbers tell us that we need to do more to educate people about the dangers associated with falls and what can be done to prevent them," Auerbach said.

Those efforts have turned more urgent with the aging of the US population; between 1999 and 2005, the rate of falls among Massachusetts residents 85 and over nearly doubled.

"We've done a good job of helping people live with chronic conditions," said Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist with the federal government's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. "As they age with all these other conditions, it tends to make for an older, more frail population. If they do fall, they're less able to survive the injury."

More than one-third of American seniors fall each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making falls the leading cause of injuries among those 65 and older. Most deaths from falls are a result of brain trauma and injuries to the hips, legs, and feet.

Those who survive often need hospital treatment - 1.8 million older people were treated in emergency rooms for survivable falls in 2005, according to the CDC. And for many, the fear of another fall becomes so paralyzing that it cripples their lives.

In Massachusetts and across the nation, hospitals, nursing homes, and governmental regulators have embraced an array of campaigns to reduce falls. Often that means evaluating patients for the likelihood of suffering a fall as soon as they check in to a hospital.

When Patricia Noga's mother was admitted recently to a Massachusetts hospital, she was designated a "falling star," meaning nurses, orderlies, and other hospital workers should be especially watchful.

"It's a concern to everyone," said Noga, senior director for clinical affairs at the Massachusetts Hospital Association. If a patient does fall, hospital staff members quickly "huddle to do a root-cause analysis to determine why this happened and what we can do to prevent this from happening again."

The issue is receiving attention from lawmakers, too. State Senator Richard T. Moore of Uxbridge, chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, has legislation proposing a commission on fall prevention.

Falls, Moore said, "are a very expensive and personally draining experience and if we could prevent them or reduce the number, we would save some lives."

Karen Devereaux Melillo believes her father died of a preventable fall. At 83, he suffered from dementia and complications of hip replacement surgery. The family placed him in a nursing home in the Greater Boston area, but one afternoon a year ago, the staff called to say he had fallen to the floor between his bed and the adjacent chair.

In the emergency room, he was diagnosed with a fractured skull. He died 36 hours later, said Melillo, chairwoman of the nursing department at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

A state investigation did not place any blame.

Melillo, a geriatric specialist, said such fatal falls highlight the importance of training staff to help frail seniors. "Falls are not a normal part of aging," she said.

Laugh Your Way to Good Health - How laughter affects every part of your body

Positive Convulsions

Kevin Lee Smith bounds to the front of the room, grabs a microphone and utters a few words. Then something comes over him: A cascade of chemical messengers in his brain throws Smith into convulsions.

For several seconds, he loses voluntary control over most of his body. His legs, arms, back and chest tense. His facial muscles squeeze upward. His stomach muscles and diaphragm spasm. His heart races. His blood pressure spikes. Someone call 911; give the man a sedative!

But Smith's audience is also experiencing the same phenomena: They are, of course, laughing.

Value of a Giggle
Laughter is so common a human experience, we forget how bizarre it is. When aliens first see us laugh, they'll think we're having some sort of fit (and they probably won't get the punch line either). Smith causes the hilarity by talking about his growing forehead: "My hairline is making a beeline for my behind." Those chemicals cascade, bodies convulse, laughter erupts.

Smith informs the audience that he's a male nurse: "Some people think it's unusual for a man to be a nurse. But there are male nurses throughout the country. Every once in a while the seven of us get together to talk about things." He teaches a course on humor and medicine at the University of Minnesota and came to this medical conference at Loma Linda University in California to argue that laughter has medical benefits. That notion is at least as old as Proverbs 17, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (which wasn't saying much back then, unless you liked leeches). It's also an idea that some mind-body fanatics, with more enthusiasm than medical proof, have oversold. But in the past few years, a brave group of scientists, fewer in number than male nurses, has been trying to uncover the physiology of laughter and its provable medical benefits. Foremost among these researchers is Loma Linda professor Lee Berk, PhD, who organized the conference Smith addressed and who also stands convulsing in the room.

"The jury is still out," says Robert Provine, a University of Maryland professor and author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, "and more work needs to be done." But the initial results are very encouraging. All the suggestions are that laughter is indeed good for you. So get those convulsions going and chuckle yourself to health.

Tickled Pink
Tickle laughter is a good place to start because it is, in fact, the most primal form of laughter. Or perhaps we should say the most primate form of laughter. Chimpanzees and other primates "play-fight," especially when young, and let out a rhythmic "pant-pant" that is the simian version of ticklish laughter, according to Provine, who has been studying the subject for decades.

Provine and others are convinced that laughter is deeply wired in our evolution, predating language. And its origin in tickling and play-fighting is more complicated than simple humor: We're being touched in our most sensitive (and lethal) areas, under the ribs, under the arms, under the neck. Maybe we laugh because we're pleased as punch that we're not actually getting beaten or killed. If so, we can chalk that up as laughter's first medical benefit!

So just what is this ancient phenomenon of laughter? It's a preset program that involves the entire body. If it's a joke we hear, the phenomenon starts in the auditory nerves in our ears. If it's a comic strip, the program is triggered by our eyes. When a father tickles his son, nerve endings in the boy's skin send electric impulses to the spinal cord and up, triggering a reaction in the part of our brains responsible for sensing what's going on in our muscles, joints and on our skin. Similarly, someone hearing a joke or reading a comic strip sends that information to the brain for processing.

A Natural High
Whatever the cause of a laugh, what happens next is not fully known. Scientists are actually starting to put people into functional MRI machines and make them laugh in order to find out. In a recent study at Stanford, researchers showed Bizarro comics to people while their brains were monitored by an MRI. They were able to prove for the first time that laughter (or at least humor) stimulates the parts of our brain that use the "feel good" chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Dopamine systems that get out of whack can lead to addiction, says Emory University neurologist Gregory Berns. This finding explains why kids want to keep playing silly games until parents can't stand it anymore. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even "addictive," to the brain.

Whole Body Benefits

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the brain of someone about to laugh, the supplementary motor area executes a bunch of commands, sending signals to dozens of muscles and glands all at once. The whole business of a laugh is what scientists call "stereotyped." People may make different noises and faces, laugh at different intensities, and have a different sense of humor, but the commands human brains give out during a guffaw are a recipe followed precisely. Here's what happens throughout the body:

Face Time: When we laugh, as many as 15 small muscles squeeze our faces into a smile. Increased blood flow there may turn us a bit pinker and give us a happy glow.

Eyes Have It: If the laugh is vigorous enough, our tear ducts can activate. Sometimes our glee can have a cumulative effect till we're literally crying with joy-and studies show that tears, whether happy or sad, may reduce symptoms of stress.

Mouth Off: Of course, our mouths open to let out those "ha-ha" rhythmic blasts of vocalized air. In addition, Loma Linda's Lee Berk and others have tested the saliva of patients after laughing episodes and found that they have higher levels of disease-fighting agents called immunoglobulins. Other studies have found higher blood levels of killer T-cells, suggesting that laughter may raise our immune function.

Vocal Point: Our vocal equipment has to roll up its sleeves to produce our high-pitched hysteria. The diaphragm, a strong muscle under the lungs, pumps down and up, filling the lungs and then blasting air out of them, up through the voice box to produce the laugh. A hearty guffaw is quite a workout for this system, requiring as much effort and volume as yelling. Because the lungs are exchanging much more air than normal, they enrich the blood with oxygen.

Wrestle Your Vessels: Our heart rate and blood pressure spike briefly when we laugh (especially when laughing while wrestling). They increase a bit even when we chuckle while sitting in a chair watching a funny movie. In addition to possible immune benefits noted earlier, laughter seems to help diabetics keep their glucose levels in check.

In a recent study, University of Maryland cardiologist Michael Miller investigated the effect of laughter on the inner lining of the blood vessels, or endothelium. Yep, even that part of our body produces chemicals-good ones when it expands, bad ones when it constricts. Miller put a pressure cuff on his subjects and blew it up to restrict blood flow for a few minutes. In the meantime, the victims (I mean subjects) watched a scene from a stressful movie (Saving Private Ryan) one day, and then a scene from a funny movie (There's Something About Mary or Kingpin) another day. Then Miller released the cuff and used an ultrasound machine to see whether the blood vessel lining expanded or contracted. By significant margins, it expanded after the funny movie and narrowed after Ryan. When the blood vessel lining expands, we get a shot of good chemicals like nitric oxide (not to be confused with nitrous oxide, or laughing gas), which reduces clotting and inflammation. When the endothelium contracts, we get a shot of stress hormones like cortisol, which make our blood clot and can lead, over time, to heart disease.

Pain Reliever: Whether in our extremities or up in our brains, laughter seems to have an analgesic effect: It increases our tolerance for pain. Back in 1987, Texas Tech psychologist Rosemary Cogan used the discomfort of a pressure cuff to test another medical benefit of laughter: pain management. Subjects who had watched a 20-minute Lily Tomlin routine could tolerate a tighter cuff than those who had watched an informational tape or no tape at all.

Belly Laughs: A hearty laugh can cause us to double over and tense all our major muscle groups for minutes at a time, leading Lee Berk to a simple conclusion: Laughter is exercise. He is fond of saying, "Laughter is inner jogging." The heart rate and blood pressure go up while you're laughing, but then they fall down below your baseline afterward, the same as with exercise. This could be very important exercise, Berk avers, for elderly and sick people who can't get out and run two miles.

According to Provine, early laughter researcher William Fry found that it took ten minutes on his rowing machine to elevate his heart rate to the same level provided by a good belly laugh, a finding that may have millions of Americans rationalizing their way out of the gym and back to reruns of Friends or I Love Lucy.

20 Powerful Reasons To Drink Green Tea

20 Powerful Reasons To Drink Green Tea

Currently, tea in the form of green or black tea, next to water, is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. According to Chinese legends, tea was discovered by the Emperor Shen Nong in about 2700 BC, when a gust of wind blew tea leaves into a kettle of boiling water.

Teas contain polyphenols which act as antioxidants and exhibit numerous biochemical activities. Tea polyphenols consist mostly of catechins, the most powerful of which is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is found only in green tea. Since ancient times green tea has been considered a health-promoting beverage and currently researchers find more convincing proof of healing qualities of green tea.

Based on the growing range of studies that research health properties of green tea, I made this list of clear benefits you can get with regular green tea drinking.

1 Longevity

Green tea may protect against death from all causes, especially cardiovascular disease. Japanese researchers[1] analyzed data from a National Cohort Study that began in 1994 and had over 40,000 participants, age 40 to 79, who began the study free of stroke, heart disease and cancer. People were followed for up to 11 years.

Compared with participants who consumed less than 1 cup of green tea per day, those drinking 5 or more cups a day had a significantly lower risk of death from all causes, especially lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and stroke. The findings might explain in part the reason why the Japanese live longer than people in any other country. However, this study found no cancer prevention benefit of green tea.

2 Improved memory and learning ability

One of the important health benefits of regular green tea drinking is improved memory and learning ability. Population-based study[2] in Japan revealed that high green tea drinking maintains cognitive function. Also, according to the results from animal studies[3-4], green tea consumption may enhance learning and memory ability.

The main components of green tea that are thought to work on improving brain function are polyphenols, epigalochatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a very strong antioxidant. The high use of oxygen during the metabolic processes leads to the generation of a large number of free radicals (a highly reactive molecules). EGCG can penetrate the brain's blood barrier and is able to enact its antioxidative affects on the free radicals that cause damage in the brain.

3 Weight control

There is strong evidence that green tea has fat-burning properties and promotes weight loss, especially when combined with increased physical activity and a healthy diet. Green tea polyphenols are known to promote weight loss by increasing the metabolism of fats by the liver (thermogenic effect), inhibiting lipase (fat absorption enzyme) in the digestive tract, and providing a feeling of satiety and fullness[5]. Recent high-quality study[6] demonstrated that green tea can reduce body weight in obese persons by increasing energy expenditure and fat oxidation. The results of new Japanese study[7] also confirm fat-burning properties of green tea. Researches found that continuous ingestion of a green tea extract high in catechins led to a reduction in body fat, systolic blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol, that in its turn contributes to a decrease in obesity and cardiovascular disease risks.

4 Skin protection from Ultraviolet

Green tea polyphenols protect the skin against the adverse effects of ultraviolet radiation such as UV-induced sunburn, UV-induced immunosuppression and photoaging of the skin. They exert their photoprotective effects by various cellular, molecular and biochemical mechanisms[8-9]. Also, green tea polyphenols protect the skin by improving the elastic tissues[10].

5 Cholesterol-lowering effect

Green tea lowers total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels and improves the ratio of HDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol. Studies[11-13] have shown that people who drink green tea as a daily part of their diet have lower cholesterol levels than those who do not drink any green tea.

Researchers believe that one of the underlying mechanisms by which green tea lowers blood cholesterol levels is by reducing lipids absorption in the digestive tract and promoting their excretion from the body[14].

6 Protection against dabetes and regulation of blood glucose levels

Green tea has been traditionally used to control blood sugar. Recent evidence also suggests green tea may help regulate the blood sugar and reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes. People who are frequent drinkers of green tea (>6 cups per day) are less likely to develop diabetes than those who drink less than 1 cup of the beverage per week[15]. Green tea antidiabetic effect may be partly explained by its caffeine content.

New Japanese study[16] demonstrated that daily intake of green tea extract lowered the hemoglobin A1c level in people with borderline diabetes, that indicates the increased body's ability to utilize blood sugar. Hemoglobin A1c is a test that measures the amount of glycosylated hemoglobin in blood. Glycosylated hemoglobin is a molecule in red blood cells that attaches to glucose, a blood sugar. People have more glycosylated hemoglobin if they have more glucose in the blood.

7 Heart protective effects: Asian paradox

Green tea may protect against heart disease. Researchers say green tea might explain the "Asian paradox" - when people living in Asian countries smoke cigarettes heavily, but have relatively low incidence of heart disease. Japanese studies[17-19] confirm that regular green tea consumption provides protection against coronary artery disease. The more green tea people consume the less likely they are to have coronary artery disease. Underlying mechanisms for the heart beneficial effects of tea include vasculoprotective, antioxidative, antithrombogenic, anti-inflammatory, and cholesterol-lowering properties of tea flavonoids.

There is a clear evidence that consumption of green tea can promote cardioprotection and reduce heart muscle cells death after a heart attack (myocardial infarction)[20]. The primary catechin in green tea, EGCG, prevents heart muscle damage by blocking the activation of inflammation-related compounds that promote the oxidative damage that kills heart cells in heart attack. EGCG also appears to speed up the recovery of heart cells.

8 Anti-hypertensive effect

Green tea lowers blood pressure and helps prevent hypertension. Tea increases body's production of nitric oxide, which dilates arteries and thereby reduces blood pressure[21-22]. A study[23] published in the July 2004 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine found that among persons consuming tea regularly for at least one year, the risk of developing high blood pressure was 46% lower among those who drank 1/2 cup to 2 1/2 cups per day, and 65% less among those consuming more than 2 1/2 cups per day.

9 Stroke prevention

Green tea shows promise in the prevention of stroke[1, 24]. Furthermore, the green tea polyphenols, particularly EGCG, have been shown to protect brain cells from destructive processes following stroke[25-26].

10 Prevention of cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases)

Green tea is neuroprotective, and may reduce the risk of degenerative disorders of the central nervous system, such as cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Green tea catechin polyphenols produce several neuroprotective activities like iron chelation, scavenging of radicals, activation of survival genes and cell signaling pathways, anti-inflammatory activities, and inhibitory action on Abeta fibrils/oligomers formation[27, 29]. All of these biological effects result in a lessening of damage to brain cells.

Recently, Japan scientists have discovered that people who consumed more than 2 cups of green tea a day had a 50% lower chance of having cognitive impairment, in comparison to those who drank fewer than 2 cups a day, or who consumed other tested beverages[28].

11 Atherosclerosis prevention

Regular green tea drinking may be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up on the insides of the arteries[30]. Green tea has been shown to effectively lower the risk of atherosclerosis by lowering LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, lipid peroxides (free radicals that damage LDL cholesterol and other lipids) and fibrinogen (a protein in the blood involved in the formation of blood clots). Green tea is a powerful antioxidant and protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation[31-32]. Oxidized cholesterol gets sticky and tends to cling to the walls of he arteries, leading to the development of atherosclerosis.

12 Anticlotting effect

Green tea also appears to prevent the formation of blood clots (thrombosis). Green tea catechins produce potent antithrombotic effect by inhibition of platelet aggregation (blood clot formation)[33].

13 Increased exercise endurance

Animal studies indicate that green tea increases exercise endurance. Green tea catechins increase metabolic capacity and utilization of fatty acid as a source of energy in skeletal muscle during exercise[34].

14 Protection from negative effects of smoking

According to the creditable study[35] regular green tea drinking may protect smokers from oxidative damages and reduce cancer risk or other diseases caused by free radicals associated with smoking. Green tea consumption may be effective to prevent future cardiovascular disorders in chronic smokers[36-37].

15 Bone mineral density increase

Green tea drinking may prevent osteoporosis and bone loss. Researchers at the University of Tokyo[38] have shown that drinking green tea may increase bone mineral density. Australian researchers[39] report that bone mineral density is 2.8% greater in tea drinkers than non-drinkers. In a 5-year prospective trial not only was tea drinkers' total BMD 2.8% higher than non-tea drinkers, but over the course of 4 years, tea drinkers lost an average of 1.6% of their total hip bone mineral density , while non-tea drinkers lost more than twice as much (4%).

16 Tooth decay (dental caries) prevention

Green tea is effective and proven remedy to prevent tooth decay. It kills the bacteria that cause dental plaques and halitosis (bad breath) and increases the acid resistance of tooth enamel [40-42].

17 Arthritis

Green tea may help people with arthritis by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown[43].

18 Antimicrobal activity

Green tea catechins have anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal activity[44]. These include some types of salmonella, influenza virus and herpes simplex. Its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning. A US study[45] suggests a component of green tea may be useful in treating severe sepsis, an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection.

19 Liver protection

Green tea appears to support healthy liver. Population-based study[46] has shown that men who drink more than 10 cups of green tea per day are less likely to develop disorders of the liver. Animal studies[47] demonstrated that green tea helps to protect liver from the damaging effects of toxic substances such as alcohol.

20 Gastrointestinal tract effects

In the gastrointestinal tract, green tea was found to activate intracellular antioxidants and reduce inflammation. High green tea consumption (more than 10 cups per day) may prevent chronic atrophic gastritis[48]. Also, green tea may help reduce inflammation associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the two types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).