There’s apparently more good news for those of us who like to imbibe. We already knew that red wine has been shown to improve your heart health. Now a drink or two a day may also help you breathe easier. Lung function seems to improve – even for smokers – for people who partake in moderate regular drinking.
“This is the biggest study that’s ever looked at the possible protective effect of alcohol involving the lung,” said study author Dr. Stanton T. Siu, chief of pulmonary medicine at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland, California.
Dr Sui goes on to say that he found that “if you drank less than two glasses of alcohol that you had much less likelihood of developing obstructive airways disease, which includes asthma and emphysema.”
He goes on to reveal some surprising news.
“You do seem to get some benefit if you drink three to five drinks per day,” added Siu.
“But it wasn’t as good if you drank just a little. And if you drank six or more, it actually had a bad effect. It made your lung function worse.”
Siu said light drinking’s protective effect roughly translates to a 20 percent reduction in the risk for developing lung disease.
“There was a little more of a positive impact for women,” Siu said, “but not a huge difference. And, in fact, when we looked at three to five drinks per day, then the men did better than the women.”
Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. A study, 20 years in the making, gives you another reason not to skip it – that is, if you eat whole grain cereal. The study has concluded that whole grain cereals may significantly reduce a person’s risk of heart failure.
The men in the study who ate a bowl of whole grain cereal daily had a 28 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.
“Eating half a cup to a cup of whole grain breakfast cereal may help lower your blood pressure. It may help lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease,” said Dr. Luc Djousse of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
“This study adds another piece to the puzzle. It may also lower your risk of heart failure,” Djousse, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers studied the breakfast habits of more than 21,000 male doctors with an average age of 53.7 years for nearly 20 years. Over the course of the study, 1,018 of the men had heart failure. Most new cases were in the men who ate no whole grain cereals.
And those who ate at least one bowl a day of whole grain cereal had the lowest incidence of heart failure.
Broccoli has many health benefits. Protecting you from the sun may be the last thing that comes to mind. But researchers in the U.S. are finding an extract from newly sprouted broccoli helps fend off damage from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
So, eating and wearing broccoli are beneficial.
The extract, known as sulforaphane, reduced skin redness and damage by more than one-third compared with untreated skin, they said.
“This is a first demonstration that a human tissue can be protected directly against a known human carcinogen,” said Dr. Paul Talalay of Johns Hopkins University, whose study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This is not a sunscreen,” Talalay said. The extract helped fortify skin cells to fight the effects of UV radiation as opposed to blocking the rays.
At the highest doses, the extract reduced redness and swelling by an average of 37 percent. The effect varied considerably with volunteers, ranging from 8 to 78 percent protection, due to genetic differences.
Skin cancer – the most common cancer in the U.S. – affecting more than 1 million Americans every year, according to the National Cancer Institute. It kills more than 10,000 people each year, which is about four percent of all cancer deaths.
A new report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that U.S. schools are getting better about promoting healthy eating. But improvements are still needed.
“Since the release of the previous SHPPS (School Health Policies and Programs Study) in 2000, America’s schools have made significant progress in removing junk food, offering more physical activity opportunities, and establishing policies that prohibit tobacco use,” CDC Director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding said.
But speaking for those of us who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, we had vending machines, and I know our school lunches weren’t all that nutritious. The only difference I can see is we were more active. We had recess and gym class. And then when we got home (after homework), we played in the yard.
It’s great to improve the food, but it seems that the sedentary lives kids are leading these days is the most troubling thing of all. While the report says the number of schools prohibiting junk food in vending machines has risen from eight percent to 32 percent since 2000, only four percent of elementary schools, eight percent of middle schools and two percent of high schools provided daily physical education for the entire year.
“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
Maybe grandma wouldn’t have to utter these words if she made sure she got a little exercise. According to new research, exercise may help the elderly stay steady on their feet, which could save them from falls that result in injury. This is especially important for those really advanced in age, because how often have you heard of an older person breaking a hip and passing away because of complications in surgery?
In an analysis of 34 clinical trials, researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland found that supervised exercise regimens generally helped improve balance and coordination. Various forms of exercise seemed effective, but strength training and the exercises targeting balance, coordination and walking ability showed the strongest effects.
The participants in the studies were over 75 years on average.
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