Diet News and Research

Latest Diet News and Research

Scientists identify a protein that regulates alcohol-withdrawal seizures

Seizures are the most life-threatening, as well as disconcerting, symptoms of withdrawal in people who are alcoholics and who abruptly stop drinking. Heavy consumption of alcohol, or ethanol, the substance in beer, wine and liquor that is addictive, leads to changes in the brain.

10 Jan 2005

Why the Mediterranean diet appers to protect against breast cancer

U.S. researchers have uncovered reasons why the Mediterranean diet, with its high intake of oleic acid-rich olive oil, seems to protect against breast cancer. They have also found evidence that oleic acid may have a future role in treatment. The findings are reported (Monday 10 January) in Annals of Oncology.

9 Jan 2005

Statins lower C-reactive protein (CRP), a major new risk factor for heart disease marked by inflammation

For years, doctors have believed that statin therapy lowers the risk of heart disease solely by lowering levels of cholesterol.

9 Jan 2005

Zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers

Cancer researchers at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers in those individuals at high risk.

9 Jan 2005

New guidelines for treating diabetes

Every year, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) issues Clinical Practice Recommendations, a series of updated recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes using the most current research available.

7 Jan 2005

Adults with pre-diabetes can lose up to 3 percent of their body weight using diet

Adults with pre-diabetes can lose up to 3 percent of their body weight using diet, exercise and behavioral strategies, according to a systematic review of studies that analyzed weight-loss strategies for pre-diabetics.

6 Jan 2005

Metabolic syndrome linked to carbohydrate-rich diet

Metabolic Syndrome, a health condition characterized by obesity, high cholesterol levels, elevated blood pressure and pre-diabetes, presently affects nearly 47 million Americans.

5 Jan 2005

Stem cells could reveal secrets of illness in later life

Mums to be have known for some time that what they eat when pregnant affects their unborn child but now scientists believe that the diet of our mothers during pregnancy may even affect our predisposition to illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure in late life.

5 Jan 2005

Sticking to one diet plan key to losing weight

A comparison of four popular diet plans finds that the key to losing weight may not be which diet plan a person picks, but sticking with the plan that is chosen, according to a study in the January 5 issue of JAMA.

5 Jan 2005

Study to compare traditional and spiritual post-heart attack recovery approaches

Surviving a heart attack is a frightening experience, one that can change a person for life. Even having severe heart-related chest pain can wake a person up to his or her mortality.

4 Jan 2005

Calcium intake contributing factor in formation of kidney stones

Individuals with either calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate kidney stones should not take extra calcium on their own as suggested by previous research, but should check with their doctors to determine the dietary guidelines that work best for them, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.

4 Jan 2005

3 or more alcoholic drinks increases risk of ischemic stroke by 45%

A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that heavy drinkers -- men who consume an average of three or more alcoholic beverages per day -- are nearly 45 percent more likely to suffer an ischemic stroke compared with nondrinkers.

4 Jan 2005

Microsoft launches MSN Health & Fitness

The Microsoft network of Internet services today launched MSN Health & Fitness, a comprehensive online destination for people looking to improve their well-being with up-to-date and easy-to-access information.

4 Jan 2005

Chronic constipation is uncomfortable, but not dangerous

There are a lot of common myths about constipation treatment. An article in the January issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology dispels those myths and clears numerous misconceptions regarding chronic constipation.

4 Jan 2005

Tobacco smoke exposure affects children and adolescents in many ways

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with decreases in certain cognitive skills, including reading, math, and logic and reasoning, in children and adolescents.

4 Jan 2005

Medicare: Incompetence-Based Bureaucracy

In 2002, the General Accounting Office (GAO), now known as the Government Accountability Office, published a study revealing that 85 percent of the time Medicare customer service representatives (CSRs) gave the wrong answer to questions posed by physicians regarding the proper way to bill Medicare so as to obtain payment.

3 Jan 2005

Restless legs syndrome is underdiagnosed in kids

A new Mayo Clinic study has for the first time established rates of restless legs syndrome in children, finding that almost 6 percent of children seen in Mayo's sleep clinic have the disease.

28 Dec 2004

Does cancer run in families?

If you have a relative with cancer, probably one of the most pressing questions is what your chances are of getting it yourself. In a paper published in PloS Medicine, the premier medical journal freely available online, Laufey Amundadottir and colleagues from deCODE genetics (a company that is using genetics to develop new drug treatments) and Iceland’s National-University Hospital go some way toward answering that question.

28 Dec 2004

Course of injections in childhood might help protect people from heart disease later in life

A course of injections in childhood might help protect people from heart disease later in life. And for those whose arteries are already clogged up, a dose of antibodies could provide immediate benefits. That's the enticing vision raised by animal studies.

26 Dec 2004

Spinal cord injury and obesity

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are looking at how people with spinal cord injury burn calories and how that is affected by their muscle mass and body weight. The goal is to make better recommendations to people with spinal cord injury, but the research will also translate into greater understanding of obesity in the general population as well.

26 Dec 2004