NEWS ITEMS
ACUPUNCTURE AND AUTISM
ANTIBIOTICS & ACUTE BRONCHITIS
CANNABIS
CONTRACEPTIVE PILL & CERVICAL CANCER
CRANBERRY JUICE & URINARY TRACT INFECTION
DAN SHEN & WARFARIN
DRUG COMPANIES UNDER FIRE
ELDERBERRIES
FISH OIL
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS & LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
GINGKO & COLCHICINE
GINKGO BILOBA & EPILEPSY
GINSENG & CHRONIC BRONCHITIS
GINSENG BERRY & DIABETES
GRAPE JUICE
GREEN TEA & MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
HYPERACTIVITY & ANTIBIOTICS
MYRRH AND SCHISTOSOMIASIS
OTITIS MEDIA IN CHILDREN
QING HAO & MALARIA
RED GRAPES LOWER HEART DISEASE
SOYA MILK WARNING
ST. JOHN’S WORT & MAJOR DEPRESSION
TEA
TEA & HEART ATTACK MORTALITY
TEA STRENGTHENS BONES
THE PILL & STROKE RISK
TOMATOES & PROSTATE CANCER
WALNUTS
WHITE WINE & THE LUNGS
Please scroll down for information on the above topics (in alphabetical order)
ACUPUNCTURE AND AUTISM: Autism is a complex developmental disability that normally appears within the first three years of life. It is estimated to occur in up to one in every 500 children, is more common in boys than girls, and can severely affect a child’s social interactions and communication skills. Many children develop normally for the first year of life, even walking, talking or crawling earlier then the average child, but then autistic symptoms begin to appear. Language is either slow to develop or does not develop at all, whilst some autistic children master speech but have difficulty processing information. Some will isolate themselves, rarely interacting with others. Sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste, may be impaired. Autistic children may lack the ability to play spontaneously and imaginatively, and may exhibit aggressive behaviour (to themselves or others). They may show obsessive interest in one particular thing whether a person, an activity or an object, staring at or playing with the same item, or rocking repetitively for hours, and laughing or crying for no apparent reason. There are many different approaches to the treatment of autism, none offering spectacular success, but acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have shown promising results. Now a new acupuncture method has been pioneered by Prof. Virginia Wong of the University of Hong Kong. The technique involves stimulating regions on the tongue which, by using brain imaging techniques, were shown to affect areas of the brain related to autism. Children who were treated by this method showed improvements in language and social skills, cognition, hyperactivity, attention span and aggression. (Proceedings of the World Congress of Neurology, London).
ANTIBIOTICS & ACUTE BRONCHITIS: Antibiotics are routinely prescribed for acute bronchitis, accounting for up to 10 million prescriptions per year in the USA. There is no proper rationale for such treatment since the pathogens are mostly viruses (for which antibiotics are ineffective) and the evidence for their effectiveness is weak, let alone serious concerns about spreading antibiotic resistance. Now researchers, from Cook County Hospital, Chicago, and elsewhere, compared the effects of the antibiotic azithromycin with low-dose vitamin C (in lieu of placebo) in 200 acute bronchitis patients, and found the antibiotic to be no more effective than the vitamin (BMJ 2002;324:1175).
CANNABIS: Canada has become the first country to allow the growth and use of marijuana for personal use by people with terminal illness and serious medical conditions. Under the new regulations, a doctor must sign the application form, but it is the patient who applies for permission to use the drug. Three categories of patient can apply: those with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of less than 12 months; those with serious conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV or AIDS, severe arthritis, and epilepsy; and those who have obtained declarations from two medical specialists that marijuana would help them. An estimated 400,000 Canadians already use marijuana for medical reasons. The Canadian government also plans to carry out sponsored clinical trials, which will receive free marijuana from its own provider, and has committed $C7.5m (£3.5m; $5m) over five years for research on the substance. (BMJ 2001;323:68; 14/7/01). Meanwhile a British company developing the world’s first cannabis-based medicines has reported that its under-the-tongue spray has delivered significant benefit for 77 percent of chronic pain sufferers in clinical trials. GW Pharmaceuticals, which grows its cannabis in secret greenhouses in southern England, tested the new drug against placebo on patients suffering from multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury. It found that 41 out of the first 53 patients enrolled in the Phase I and II studies derived statistically significant benefit, including reduced pain, improved sleep and overall symptom relief. Side effects, including headaches and nausea, were “predictable and generally well tolerated”. The ability to control dosage with the spray mechanism allowed users to strike a balance between reducing pain and getting high (Reuters). Another study has shown that cannabinoids (the active substances in cannabis) are more effective than conventional drugs at preventing nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. The study also found that patients generally prefer them, although some found side effects such as dizziness, depression and hallucinations deterred them from continued use. The study analysed 30 trials, involving over 1300 patients. Three different cannabinoids were given either as tablets or by intramuscular injection. Across all trials, cannabinoids were more effective than conventional anti-sickness drugs and most patients said they would prefer cannabinoids for future chemotherapy cycles. (BMJ 2001;323:2-3).
CONTRACEPTIVE PILL & CERVICAL CANCER: A study carried out by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer has confirmed that long-term use of the oral contraceptive pill significantly increases the risk of cervical cancer in women who test positive for the humanpapillomavirus (HPV). Use of the pill for 5-9 years in HPV carriers increased the risk by a factor of 2.82 times, increasing to 4.03 for 10 years plus. HPV is considered to be the most common sexually transmitted disease, and in the USA around 40 million women are thought to be carriers (Lancet 2002;359:1085-92).
CRANBERRY JUICE & URINARY TRACT INFECTION: Lots of women already know it, but research has now confirmed that cranberry juice is effective in reducing the recurrence of urinary tract infections in women. 150 women with a urinary tract infection were randomly allotted to one of three groups. The first group received 50ml of cranberry-lingonberry juice concentrate daily for six months. The second group received 100ml of lactobacillus drink five days a week for one year, and the third group received nothing. After six months, the number of episodes of urinary tract infection was reduced by about half in the cranberry group, whereas the lactobacillus drink was ineffective. Only eight (16%) women in the cranberry group had at least one recurrence of the disease during the six month period, compared with 19 (39%) in the lactobacillus group and 18 (36%) in the control (no treatment) group. (Randomised trial of cranberry-lingonberry juice and Lactobacillus GG drink for the prevention of urinary tract infections in women, Kontiokari et al, BMJ 2001;322:1571)
DAN SHEN & WARFARIN: Great care needs to be observed when considering the use of Dan Shen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) in patients taking warfarin. As well as three published case histories showing gross over-anticoagulation and bleeding complications in patients who were prescribed both medicines, studies in rats have confirmed that Dan Shen exaggerates the anticoagulant response to warfarin (Ann Pharmacother 2001;35:501-4).
DRUG COMPANIES UNDER FIRE: Thirteen of the world’s principal medical journals, including The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, have accused major drug companies of distorting the results of scientific research for the sake of profits. The drug companies, among the richest corporations in the world, are accused of using their money, or the threat of its withdrawal, to control academic researchers with legal contracts preventing them from reporting freely and fairly on the results of trials of new drugs. Such researchers, often from underfunded university departments, may not get access to raw data, including information on side-effects, often have no say in trial design, and may not participate fully in interpreting the results of trials. Researchers who complain can easily be replaced by others who do not, and even if researchers do have a significant say in trial design and result interpretation, the actual results will often be buried if they are unfavourable to the drug’s prospects (The Guardian, 10/9/01).
ELDERBERRIES: A standardised black elderberry extract (Sambucol) offers the prospect of neutralising the otherwise untreatable and deadly West Nile virus. This virus, which is carried in birds and spread to humans by infected mosquitoes, has been detected in 12 states in the USA. Sambucol has been shown to be effective in in vitro experiments in Israel, and in a recently published human clinical study it was shown to enhance immunity by stimulating increased production of certain white blood cells (cytokines). Study researchers concluded that “... in addition to its antiviral properties, Sambucol Elderberry Extract and its formulation activate the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine production. Sambucol might therefore be beneficial to the immune system activation and in the inflammatory process in healthy individuals or in patients with various diseases.” (European Cytokine Network, Volume 12, Issue 2, June 2001, pages 290-296).
FISH OIL: It has been reported before (NEWS 65) that eating fish, even in modest amounts, can significantly reduce a woman’s risk of ischaemic stroke. The benefits of fish oils are now found to be more widespread. Seafood is the only main source of two omega-3 series fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). These are central to healthy brain function and it has been suggested that a deficiency may cause, or at least exacerbate, problems in some children who have trouble with their reading and behaviour. Consumption of these fats has plummeted in Britain in recent years. Recent research carried out at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London and the University of Oxford has now found that children at a special school, most of whom had dyslexia, were less anxious, more able to concentrate and significantly better behaved after taking fish oils for three months. The authors say that the symptoms that appeared to be improved in the mainly dyslexic children were also classic symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In another small study presented to the American Psychological Association, researchers from the Sheffield University Department of Psychiatry, England, report that less than a half an ounce (10g) of fish oils (especially those containing EPA) a day can relieve symptoms of schizophrenia in both a statistically and a clinically significant manner. A larger study is now being conducted in India to determine if the results can be replicated. Further evidence for the benefits of fish oils comes from an Australian study (Arch Ophthalmol. 2000;118:401-404) into age-related maculopathy (ARM), the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States. This found that higher frequency of fish consumption was associated with decreased odds of late onset ARM. Finally a Dublin general practitioner claims he has dramatically improved the conditions of four depressed and three alcoholic patients by giving them omega-3, as well as helping several chronic smokers. Mackerel and sardines are richest in omega-3 fats, followed by salmon and herring. However fish with the highest levels of omega-3 fats also tend to concentrate pollutants like mercury and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenals), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests that pregnant women should avoid some fish because of high mercury content.
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS & LEARNING DIFFICULTIES: Early results from a study into the use of a supplement containing fish oil, evening primrose oil and vitamin A by children with learning difficulties are very encouraging, according to researchers working in 13 schools in County Durham, England. The research is designed to test the hypothesis that deficiencies in fatty acids can cause serious learning difficulties, and be implicated in disorders such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autistic spectrum disorder and attention deficiency hyper-activity (ADHA) disorder. Full results will not be available until September but researchers and teachers have noted considerable improvements in writing ability, confidence and social skills (BBC News).
GINGKO & COLCHICINE: An article in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology which reported significant levels of the potentially toxic colchicine in both the placental blood of five of 24 women and in a commercially available ginkgo sample, has come under sustained fire. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) have sharply criticised the study which suggests pregnant women might harm their babies by taking gingko, and initiated analyses to refute the findings of the study. “Ginkgo does not naturally contain the alkaloid colchicine,” said the vice president for scientific and technical affairs at AHPA. “Since colchicine is not a constituent of the plant, its presence in the tested product, if confirmed, would either indicate contamination or adulteration of the product or of the laboratory equipment. Another strong possibility is that the researchers’ analysis of their test results were seriously flawed.” Jerry Cott, a noted neuropsychopharmacologist and former chief of the psychopharmacology research program at the National Institute of Mental Health, agreed: “Even a cursory examination of the medical literature would have alerted the researchers that the levels they measured were well above the lethal level”. Multiple analyses of ginkgo powdered raw material and extract from several sources by third party laboratories have also effectively discredited the findings. Laboratory analyses of five different ginkgo sources have been analysed by three different methods including the one used in the study, and no trace of colchicine has been found in any of the samples. Thomas L. Kurt, clinical professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, stated: “There are numerous problematic errors in the work as reported that are simply untenable.” John Cardellina of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) says, “Ginkgo has been examined in more than 30 randomised, blinded, controlled studies, and more than 100 other clinical and pharmacological studies and found to be safe and efficacious, with no mention of colchicine.”
GINKGO BILOBA & EPILEPSY: Two cases have been reported of patients with well-controlled epilepsy who developed recurrent seizures within 2 weeks of starting to take extract of ginkgo biloba (12mg daily for 12-14 days). Seizures stopped when they stopped taking the extract. It is suggested that the effect of ginkgo in increasing blood flow may play a part in this apparent reaction. (Age & Ageing 2001, 30(6) 523-5).
GINSENG & CHRONIC BRONCHITIS: Bacterial infections are implicated in 50-70% of attacks of acute bronchitis, in which case they are routinely treated with amoxicillin. A study carried out at the University of Milan was designed to test whether the previously reported efficacy of Ren Shen (Radix Ginseng/Asian ginseng) in enhancing antibody production and natural killer (NK) cell activity might play a part in the treatment of acute bronchitis. 44 patients (aged 18+ years) suffering from acute bacterial attacks of chronic bronchitis were randomly divided into two groups (after excluding cases of concurrent pneumonia, systemic use of anti-infective drugs in the previous seven days, systemic oral corticosteroid use, hypersensitivity to penicillin etc.). Both groups received conventional antibacterial therapy, with the study group additionally receiving 100m ginseng extract twice daily for nine days. The time taken to reduce bacterial count to below detection levels was 5.9 days in the study group compared to 6.7 days in the control group. The authors propose that the effect of the ginseng was to enhance the immune response rather than act directly on the bacterial infection. (Clin Drug Invest 2001;21(1):41-5).
GINSENG BERRY & DIABETES: An extract from the ginseng berry has shown promising results in treating diabetes and obesity, according to the University of Chicago’s Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research. The extract completely normalised blood glucose levels, improved sensitivity to insulin, lowered cholesterol levels, and decreased weight by reducing appetite and increasing activity levels in mice bred to develop diabetes. Ginseng berry has a distinctive chemical profile and has not previously been used for therapy. (Diabetes 51: 1851-1858).
GRAPE JUICE: Patients with narrowing of the coronary arteries who drank purple grape juice daily for eight weeks showed significant improvement in their arterial function, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. The study also found that purple grape juice achieves its effect independently of vitamin E, and at quantities lower than previously tested (10 ounces of juice daily compared to 21 ounces). (The American Journal of Cardiology, 9/01). Research previously published on subjects who drank about 2 cups of grape juice per day for two weeks, found a decreased tendency for blood to form clots and lower levels of a potent free radical in blood. The juice also increased levels of the antioxidant vitamin E and nitric oxide. Researchers believe the benefits are due to the natural mixture of flavonoids in grapes including catechins and anthocyanins, rather than any single component. When the main grape flavonoids were isolated, none of their separate effects on platelets - the blood components involved in clotting - were as beneficial as the unique combination that comes naturally from grapes. (Circulation, 12/6/01)
GREEN TEA & MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY : Studies on mice indicate that green tea might help slow the muscle degeneration seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, possibly by reducing oxidative stress. The lowest effective dose in the study corresponded to seven cups of green tea a day for humans (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002;75:749-753).
HYPERACTIVITY & ANTIBIOTICS: 178 of 383 hyperactive children (46.6%) were found to have used three or more courses of antibiotics during the first three years of life, compared with 42 of 148 (28.4%) non hyperactive children. Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with poor absorption of micronutrients and/or peptides. The children with high antibiotic use were found to have lower levels of zinc, calcium, chromium and selenium, possibly due to the harmful effect of antibiotics on microflora in the digestive system (Nutrit. Pract. 2001, 3(3) 12). Promising results were found following the treatment of 36 children with ADHD with ginkgo biloba and ginseng, with a 74% improvement in ADHD and hyperactive-impulse activity and a 44% improvement in social problems after one month of use. (J. Psychiatry & Neuroscience 2001, 26(3) 221-8).
MYRRH AND SCHISTOSOMIASIS: Schistosomiasis is a common parasitic infection which is transmitted to humans through contact with faeces-contaminated water. A single fluke may live in the human body and continuously lay eggs for up to 20 years, resulting in pain, obstruction and dysfunction of many different organs as well as anaemia. 204 patients with schistosomiasis were treated with 10mg/kg of body weight of Mo Yao (Myrrha). After 3 days 91.7% were cured. Further treatment of those who were not cured after 3 days was given at the same dose for 6 days, and 76.5% of these cases were then found to be cured. The total cure rate was 98.09%. The medicine was well tolerated with only mild and transient side effects. 20 cases given biopsy tests 6 months later were found to be free of living eggs (Am J Trop Med Hyg 2001 Dec;65(6):700-4).
OTITIS MEDIA IN CHILDREN: Acute otitis media is very common in children and is routinely treated with antibiotics. A recent study compared immediate with delayed (prescription to be collected at parents discretion after 72 hours) prescribing of antibiotics. The children prescribed immediate antibiotics had shorter illness (1.1 days), fewer nights disturbed (0.72) and slightly less paracetamol consumption. There was no difference in school absence or pain or distress in the children since the antibiotics only became effective after 24 hours, by which time distress was anyway less severe. Only 36 of the 150 children in the delayed group used antibiotics, and fewer children in the delayed group suffered diarrhoea. The study shows that in most cases there is no pressing need to use antibiotics which principally provide symptomatic benefit, and in children who are not systemically unwell, a wait-and-see approach is acceptable. (Little, P et al, BMJ 2001, 322 (7282) 360-361).
QING HAO & MALARIA: Up to 2.5 million people die of falciparum (cerebral) malaria annually, especially the young and the pregnant. Survivors are debilitated for weeks and may carry the parasite for years. In south-east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa the falciparum parasite is resistant to most major anti-malarial drugs. During the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao urged a group of young scientists to find a home-grown antidote to malaria. Working their way through China’s herbal pharmacopoeia they soon focused on Qing Hao (Herba Artemisiae Apiaceae), used for 2,000 years as a cure for fever. They extracted an active anti-malarial compound, qinghaosu (known as artemisinin in the West), and within eight years announced it ready for manufacture. Many Western scientists think the authors of the article are worthy of Nobel Prize consideration. The first English account appeared in the Chinese Medical Journal in 1979, in an article entitled Anti-malarial Studies on Qinghaosu. Professor Nicholas White, director of Wellcome’s South East Asia Research Unit, said “Here, on flimsy yellow paper, in rather quaint English, was the description of a new compound, including tests in vitro, on rodents and then on humans. It was all contained in five pages when a Western pharmaceutical company would have spent $300 million and published a document as thick as a brick”. World Health Organisation (WHO) officials however, sceptical that Chinese methods were adequate, insisted that it alone should devise a ‘safe’ version of the drug, i.e. one that matched Western standards, and precious years were wasted as Western scientists set about working on their own version of the drug. The choice of the American army’s Walter Reed Institute to head the research was perhaps unfortunate as the Chinese were unwilling to co-operate, and obtaining samples of the plant was slow and difficult. Ironically, after world-wide searches, they eventually found a very close relative (sweet Annie or sweet wormwood) growing wild along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington. It took a decade to develop their own version of the drug and in the early 90s they carried out the first of a series of laboratory tests required under the approval process, with disappointing results. Even though other tropical medicine experts believe the experiments were not conducted properly, the negative results created a mental block towards qinghaosu in the WHO and many African countries, putting the formula’s mass deployment back even further. While the West was wasting time attempting to prove what the Chinese had already demonstrated, Far Eastern countries such as Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam began buying qinghaosu direct from China and saving countless lives. Eventually scientists from the research foundation the Wellcome Trust lost patience and were the first to test the drug properly in the field. During a 10-year project among 120,000 refugees on the Thai-Burma border, the team found that when qinghaosu was used in tandem with established medications such as mefloquine, it had a near 100% success rate in preventing malarial deaths. By wiping out the parasite in the bloodstream, it has been almost as successful at preventing people contracting the disease. The discovery of qinghaosu has been described as “monumental” and its potential compared to the discovery of penicillin. Qinghaosu has two oxygen atoms that detonate the iron found in red blood cells. The explosion is so strong that not only the falciparum parasites but also their offspring - gametocytes - are blown up. Using qinghaosu in combination therapy acts to confuse a disease, so it can’t learn to recognise what has hit it and therefore cannot mutate into resistant forms. At present, patients have to take the pills separately, meaning they are far less likely to finish the course, so raising the risk of resistance. What is urgently needed is an all-in-one tablet acceptable to European and WHO standards, but so far the only one that has been developed is prohibitively expensive for general use. David Alnwick, manager of the WHO’s Roll Back Malaria initiative, says “It’s incredibly sad more wasn’t done 10 years ago to prevent malaria getting as bad as it is and that more money and resources were not put into better combination drugs. But our view is artemisinin is the most exciting component and that it should be widely used. It is incredibly important.” (Electronic Telegraph).
RED GRAPES LOWER HEART DISEASE: What is known as the "French Paradox" is the low incidence of heart disease among the French, who eat a relatively high-fat diet. One possible explanation is the presence of resveratrol, a compound found in the skins of red grapes, the Chinese blood invigorating herb Hu Zhang (Radix et Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati), eucalyptus, spruce, lily, beansprouts, peanuts, and perhaps in He Shou Wu (Radix Polygoni Multiflori) and Ye Jiao Teng (Caulis Polygoni Multiflori). Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, a class of antibiotic compounds produced as a part of a plant’s defense system against disease, for example, in response to an invading fungus. For this reason it is found in lower concentrations in wines where fungicides are used, but in higher amounts where traditional viticulture techniques are used. Since fungal infections are more common in cooler climates, grapes grown in cooler climates have a higher concentration. The resveratrol content of wine is related to the length of time the grape skins are present during the fermentation process. Thus the concentration is significantly higher in red wine than in white wine, because the skins are removed earlier during white-wine production, lessening the amount that is extracted. For the same reason unfermented grape juice is not a significant source of resveratrol. Resveratrol has been shown to be an effective antioxidant and it can reduce platelet aggregation. Now the US Department of Agriculture’s Research Service has announced that resveratrol is also found in blueberries, cranberries, huckleberries, raspberries and strawberries and related plants, and that various extracts from muscadine grapes, raspberries and strawberries cut the growth of breast cancer cell lines and cervical cancer cell lines by more than half. Recent research published in the British Journal of Cancer has shown that resveratrol is converted in the body into a known anti-cancer agent which can selectively target and destroy cancer cells. A further study carried out at Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that rats injected with a cancer-causing agent and then fed a diet rich in black raspberries had 80% fewer malignant tumours of the colon compared to rats that had no berries in their diet. (http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/brberry.htm).
SOYA MILK WARNING: The high manganese levels found in soy beverages, and in particular infant formula, may be neurotoxic to infants under the age of six months. Soymilk contains manganese at levels important to human nutrition but over 50 times the level found in mother’s breast milk. High manganese in soymilk has been implicated in brain damage in newborn and in human infants. Elevated manganese levels were further found in the scalp hair of adolescents incarcerated for violent crimes. There are suggestions that soymilk use in small infants could correlate to the dramatic increases in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and violent adolescent incidents over the last 40 years. Newborn infants do not have the same ability to metabolise manganese as adults. Once stored in neural tissue, excess manganese (and the effects it exerts) will remain for many years.
ST. JOHN’S WORT & MAJOR DEPRESSION: Several previous European studies have suggested that St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) is effective in treating mild to moderately severe depression. A new trial involving 340 participants held under the auspices of the US National Institutes of Health, however, has concluded that it is no more effective than placebo in treating major depression of moderate severity. It is interesting to note, though, that overall and on most measures, there was also no major difference between the St. John’s wort and sertraline (Zoloft®), an FDA-approved antidepressant drug. (JAMA, 2002; 287:1807-1814).
TEA & HEART ATTACK MORTALITY: In a study of 1900 patients hospitalised with confirmed acute myocardial infarction between 1989 and 1994, with a median follow-up of 3.8 years, it was found that there was a significant reduction in long-term mortality among moderate tea drinkers (those who drank less than 14 cups a week compared with those who drank no tea), a benefit that was further increased among heavy tea drinkers (more than 14 cups a week) (Circulation 105: 2476-2481).
TEA STRENGTHENS BONES : In a study of 497 men and 540 women, 30 years and older, those with a history of tea consumption of between 6 and 10 years showed higher bone mineral density of the lumbar spine than non tea drinkers, and those with over 10 years history of tea consumption showed the highest bone mineral density in all measured regions of the body. (Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:1001-1006).
TEA: It is now well known that the antioxidants found in tea can prevent the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) that lead to the formation of plaque in artery walls, although very high concentrations of tea flavonoids are needed to produce this effect. A new study has indicated an alternative explanation for the heart benefits of black tea, showing that flavonoids improve the function of the vascular endothelium which forms the inner lining of cells in all blood vessels and produces substances that regulate the diameter of the blood vessel. It responds to changes in the body’s oxygen and blood flow needs, by causing blood vessels to dilate or contract and further inhibits the formation of blood clots and the development of inflammation in the vessel wall. All these functions may be impaired in individuals with atherosclerosis (endothelial dysfunction). Observation of 50 individuals with coronary artery disease found that tea improved endothelial-dependent dilation in their arteries, whilst water and caffeine alone had no effect. (Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 10/7/01). Meanwhile two new papers supporting the health benefits of drinking black tea were presented at the Epidemiology Congress 2001 in Toronto. The first paper, a national cross-sectional study of 1,764 women in Saudi Arabia, showed that tea drinkers are 19% less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. The second showed that tea consumption is associated with a lower risk of rectal cancer in Moscow women.
THE PILL & STROKE RISK: The latest ("third generation") form of low-oestrogen contraceptive pills still have around double the stroke risk of women not taking the pill, according to the first major study into them. (American Stroke Association’s 27th International Stroke Conference). Meanwhile one of the largest ever studies on oral contraceptive use has shown that women who have ever used the contraceptive pill have a 26% greater risk of breast cancer compared to women who have never used the pill. This figure rises to 58% among women who are still using the pill, and to 144% among women over 45 who are still using the pill. (3rd European Breast Cancer Conference).
TOMATOES & PROSTATE CANCER: Analysis of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) involving over 47,000 male dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, podiatrists, pharmacists, and veterinarians appears to show that consumption of tomato products reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer, possibly due to the antioxidant properties of lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes. Tomato sauce appeared to be the most effective form, lowering relative risk of prostate cancer to 0.77. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2002; 94: 391-398). Separate research from Cornell University shows that cooking tomatoes makes them healthier by substantially raising the levels of lycopene, even though vitamin C is lost in the cooking process. (J. Agric. Food Chem., 50 (10), 3010 -3014, 2002).
WALNUTS: Although consumption of as little as 5 ounces of nuts per week has been shown to reduce cardiovascular (CVD) risk by 30-50%, most studies have not differentiated the effects of specific types of nuts. Walnuts are unique as a rich source of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In a study of older subjects, it was found that walnuts added to the diet have a dual effect of lowering both total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The authors conclude that walnuts affect lipid metabolism differently than other food sources of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, such as fish oil and soybean products. (Am J. Clin Nutr 2001;74: 72-9).
WHITE WINE & THE LUNGS: Wine, especially white wine, is associated with better lung function as measured by the volume of air expelled in a single breath (forced vital capacity) and the volume forcibly expelled in one second. Although red wine was also found to be associated with improved lung function, the effect was less pronounced, and no effects were found for other kinds of alcohol. The study was conducted by the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on a random sample of 1,555 white and African-American residents of Western New York. (May meeting of the American Thoracic Society).
