Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "beta"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Antioxidants Not Associated With Increased Melanoma Risk →
Sept 1. 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Antioxidant supplements do not appear to be associated with an increased risk of melanoma, according to a new report.
A recent randomized trial of antioxidants for cancer prevention found that daily supplementation with nutritionally appropriate doses of vitamins C and E, beta carotene, selenium and zinc appeared to increase the risk of melanoma in women four-fold, according to background information in the article. Because an estimated 48 percent to 55 percent of U.S. adults use vitamin or mineral supplements regularly, the potential harmful effects of these nutrients is alarming, the authors note.
Maryam M. Asgari, M.D., M.P.H., of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and colleagues examined the association between antioxidants and melanoma among 69,671 women and men who were participating in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study, designed to examine supplement use and cancer risk. At the beginning of the study, between 2000 and 2002, participants completed a 24-page questionnaire about lifestyle factors, health history, diet, supplement use and other cancer risk factors.
Intake of multivitamins and supplements during the previous 10 years, including selenium and beta carotene, was not associated with melanoma risk in either women or men. The researchers also examined the risk of melanoma associated with long-term use of supplemental beta carotene and selenium at doses comparable to the previous study and found no association.
“Consistent with the present results, case-control studies examining serologic [blood] levels of beta carotene, vitamin E and selenium did not find any association with subsequent risk of melanoma,” the authors write. “Moreover, the Nurses’ Health Study reported no association between intake of vitamins A, C and E and melanoma risk in 162,000 women during more than 1.6 million person-years of follow-up.”
For full article, see link above.
Tags: antioxidant supplement vitamin mineral C e beta carotene selenium zinc cancer risk nutrient melanoma lifestyle multivitamin
Eat Fat With Tomatoes to Absorb All the Nutrients →
July 31, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Tomatoes are a good source of the antioxidants lycopene and beta-carotene. But if you eat a tomato without adding a little fat, your body is unlikely to absorb all these nutrients.
Scientists recruited graduate students to eat bowls of salad greens with tomatoes and various types of salad dressings. The researchers put IV lines into the participants’ veins and drew blood samples before and after they’d eaten the salads in order to get precise measurements of the absorption of nutrients.
When researchers went back and analyzed the blood samples, they realized that people who had eaten fat-free or low-fat dressings didn’t absorb the beneficial carotenoids from the salad. Only when they had eaten the oil-based dressing did they get the nutrients.
Sources:
NPR July 27, 2009Blood Pressure Beta-Blocker Drugs Cause 400 Percent Increase in Heart Attacks →
Apri 03 09 (NaturalNews) Surgical patients who are given blood pressure drugs known as beta-blockers around the time of surgery are four times more likely to suffer heart attacks and death than patients who are not given such drugs, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Health Care System and published in the journal Archives of Surgery.
For full article, see link above.
FDA Panel: 2 Asthma Drugs Not Worth the Risk →
December 11, 2008 (medscape) — An expert panel said Thursday that the benefits of two inhaler drugs are not worth the risks and should no longer be used to treat asthma.
The vote does not mean the two drugs, Serevent and Foradil, will be pulled from the market. Instead, the panel strongly urged the FDA to tell doctors not to prescribe the drugs to children or adults as a standalone asthma treatment.
For full medical article, see link above.
Asthma Drugs Increase Risk of Asthma-Related Death →
ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 5 — Long-acting beta agonists are associated with an increased risk of asthma-related death and hospitalization compared with other medications used to treat the condition, according to an FDA meta-analysis.
The increased risk was particularly marked in children ages 4 to 11, with a risk difference estimate of 14.83 (95% CI, 3.24, 26.45) per 1,000 participants, the report said.
The analysis, which was released today, was prepared as a briefing document for the Joint Meeting of the FDA’s Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee, Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and Pediatric Advisory Committee scheduled for December 10 and 11.
For full medical article, see link above.
