Health News - Friday, February 16, 2007
It contains more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk. Watercress may be better known as a decorative garnish, but a study published yesterday said the salad leaf could significantly cut the risk of cancer.
The study suggested that eating 85g of watercress a day could inhibit the growth of cancer cells and even kill them. Scientists at Ulster University found that the watercress reduced the damage caused by cancer cells to white blood cells by 22.9%. Watercress also raised levels of antioxidants which absorb so-called "free radicals", molecules which some experts believe damage the body's tissues. Continue reading
Got a recipe that involves cooking garlic? You might want to crush the garlic first. That may be the best way to preserve the herb's healthy compounds during cooking, a new study shows.
Garlic contains compounds shown to help prevent blood clots. But most garlic studies have tested raw garlic, and cooking can damage those anticlotting compounds. Crushing garlic may help prevent that damage, report the researchers, who include Claudio Galmarini, PhD, of the agricultural sciences faculty at Argentina's Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Continue reading
Smoking greatly increases the risk of needing spinal surgery to treat low back pain and being overweight boosts the likelihood of having postoperative pain and complications after such surgery, U.S. researchers say.
The study of 185 patients who had surgery for non-traumatic back pain found that smokers were 148 percent more likely than nonsmokers to require the surgery. The researchers also concluded that each increase in body mass index (BMI) of 5 kg/m2 was linked to a 97 percent increased risk of postoperative pain and a 44 percent increased risk of complications. Smoking did not increase the likelihood of postoperative pain but nearly quadrupled the risk of complications. Continue reading
Permanent hearing loss will occur in 17 percent of people exposed to airbag deployment in cars sold in the United States, new research suggests.
Dr. G. Richard Price, a consultant at Auditory Hazard Analysis in Charlestown, Md., only looked at cars with front and side airbags sold in the United States, which are required to have larger, more powerful airbags than cars sold in Europe and other parts of the world. Cars with smaller airbags likely pose less of a hearing threat, Price said. He also found that, contrary to widespread belief, car occupants are more likely to suffer hearing damage when the windows are rolled down. Continue reading
Go ahead, type the night away. New research has found that genetics, rather than repetitive hand use, is responsible for carpal tunnel syndrome. "This study has shown that there really is a genetic predisposition to carpal tunnel," said Dr. Roy G. Kulick, chief of hand surgery in the department of orthopedics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Kulick was not involved with the study.
Which is not to say that genetics provide the whole answer. "Age, genetics, obesity, diabetes, thyroid, various types of hormonal conditions, even pregnancy are predisposing factors," said Dr. George Pianka, chief of hand surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Then, there are external factors that will bring up symptoms, so I think it's fair to say that a person may have a genetic or multi-factorial predisposition, and something may aggravate the symptoms or allow the symptoms to manifest." Continue reading