Research & Lifestyle
A Nice Cup of Tea
Posted on 11/06/2008
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).
Chinese Herbs avert Leg Surgery
Posted on 11/06/2008
Chinese doctors used healing herbs to save the limbs of Diabetics. A major complication of diabetes is poor circulation, which can lead to ulcers and gangrene, and patients often have their feet or lower legs amputated. But...
Chinese Herbal Medicine may help breast cancer sufferers
Posted on 11/06/2008
Study has shown that Chinese Herbal Medicine may help breast cancer patients. Chinese herbal medicine may protect the immune systems of breast cancer patients from the effects of chemotherapy, researchers said today. Scientists...
Traditional Chinese Herbal cocktails could be 'cure' for eczema
Posted on 11/06/2008
Itchy skin? Chinese herbal cures could help. A cocktail of herbs used by the Chinese for thousands of years could combat the painful skin condition eczema, scientists claim. They say a potion containing five raw herbs reduced...
Quack Medicine: Peking Duck is better for your Heart than 'Statins'
Posted on 11/06/2008
The ingredient used to colour Peking duck can cut the risk of dying from heart disease by a third and cancer by two-thirds, scientists say. The ingredient used to colour Peking Duck can cut the risk of dying from heart disease by...
Red yeast rice lowers LDL cholesterol in patients who cannot tolerate statins, reports Annals of Internal Medicine.
Posted on 11/06/2008
Red yeast rice lowers LDL cholesterol in patients who cannot tolerate statins, reports Annals of Internal Medicine. Some 60 patients who had discontinued statins owing to myalgia wererandomized to receive red yeast rice...
Bacteria and Human Cells
Posted on 06/06/2008
Humans Have Ten Times More Bacteria Than Human Cells: How Do Microbial Communities Affect Human Health? Science Daily (Jun. 5, 2008) - The number of bacteria living within the body of the average healthy adult human are estimated...
Chocolate, Chocolate....and More Chocolate!
Posted on 04/06/2008
Cocoa, a key ingredient in most chocolate products, is rich in flavonoids - a natural plant substance that has antioxidant properties. Some flavonoids may have anti-inflammatory effects similar to aspirin. Low concentrations of these flavonoids can reduce platelet activity in the blood, thereby lowering the risk of blood clots. In a study of healthy, nonsmoking adults with no history of heart disease, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that platelet activation was inhibited 2 hours and 6 hours after ingestion of a cocoa-enriched beverage. These results suggest that for healthy people, moderate intake of chocolate over the long-term may inhibit platelet activity and ultimately reduce the risk of heart disease.
Benefits of Alcohol
Posted on 04/06/2008
Drinking small quantities of alcohol at least three or four times a week could protect men from having a heart attack. Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard School of Public Health Study have found that men who drank moderate amounts of alcohol three or more times a week were up to 35% less likely to have a myocardial infarction than non-drinkers. The researchers tracked the drinking habits of nearly 40,000 men over a 12-year period and looked at the effects of drinking red wine, white wine, beer and spirits. They found that no single type of beverage was better than the other, and drinking with meals made no difference. Frequent consumption was thought to be more effective because alcohol"s effect on clotting and platelets was short-lived. (New England Journal of Medicine. 2003 Jan 9;348(2):109-118)
Love Is All You Need
Posted on 04/06/2008
According to the great Chinese physician Sun Simiao (581 to 682 CE) people have illness "because they do not have love in their life and are not cherished". Now Dr. Dean Ornish (author of Love and Survival), a surgeon who gave up traditional approaches to heart disease in favor of a holistic programme of low-fat diet, exercise and support groups states "those who feel lonely, depressed or isolated are three to five times more likely to suffer premature death or disease. I don't know of anything else across medicine that has such a broad and powerful impact."
