10 Ways to Prevent Cancer.

Only a few everyday choices about diet, exercise and tobacco use can dramatically reduce a person's risk of cancer, according to a Special Report on Cancer Prevention.

The Special Report examines the science and latest findings on 10 approaches that can make a real difference in preventing cancer.

Here are some highlights from the list:

1. Don't smoke: Quitting smoking reduces the risk of lung and other cancers, regardless of the number of years of smoking.

2. Eat fruits and vegetables: The American Cancer Society recommends eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily because they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other substances that lower the risk of cancer.

3. Limit fat in the diet: Current guidelines recommend keeping fat intake between 20 and 30 percent of total daily calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils.

4. Maintain a healthy weight: Being overweight or obese can increase the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer as well as cancers of the colon, endometrium, esophagus and kidney. There's evidence that obesity increases the risk of cancers of the prostate, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, stomach, ovary and cervix.

5. Be physically active: From 45 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day, on most days of the week, is considered optimal to reduce the risk of breast and colorectal cancers.

6. Curb alcohol consumption: Women should limit themselves to no more than one alcoholic beverage a day. Men should have no more than two.

7. Limit exposure to radiation: Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which comes from the sun, sunlamps or commercial tanning beds, is the primary cause of skin cancer, the most common of all cancers.

8. Protect against infection: Infections caused by viruses are recognized as risk factors for several types of cancer.

9. Consider chemoprevention: Chemoprevention is the use of natural or synthetic compounds to reduce the risk of cancer or its recurrence. Tamoxifen, prescribed to prevent breast cancer in high-risk women, is the best known chemoprevention agent.

10. Get recommended screening exams: Pap tests, mammograms, colonoscopies and other routine screenings cannot prevent cancer. But screenings can help find cancers early, when treatment is most likely to be successful.

The study has been published in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. (ANI)

Banana = Beer

The next time you feel a little low or jaded, don't hit a pub to drown your sorrows. Just visit a nearby grocer and buy some bananas or help yourself to a bar of dark chocolate.

The reason you are feeling low may be due to depleted levels of serotonin, the 'happiness hormone'. The intake of certain kinds of foods can help increase its levels.

"Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates many of our feelings, including pain, sleep, mood and hunger. In simple words, it helps different parts of your brain to talk to each other, and inadequate amount of serotonin can lead to mood swings, sleep disorder and depression," says Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist and director of Whole Foods.

The solution, she says, can be found in certain foods. "A number of food items act as mood boosters.

For example, honey coated nuts, oatmeal porridge, muesli or granola in milk, yogurt and fruit are handy things that can make you feel better," she says. Monika Sharma, an MSc.

student, says, "I don't know about other things that can lift one's mood, but yes, chocolate definitely works for me. Whenever I feel low, I munch on a bar of chocolate.

" Chocolate may lift your mood but not without leaving you feeling guilty about the extra calories. Deepika Malik, a wellness expert, says, "If you are worried about putting on weight, you can substitute strawberries for chocolates and nuts.

Cold milk with a hint of saffron in it also acts as a mood booster.".

At some point or another, it happens to everyone: You can't sleep. When you finally drop off, the alarm buzzes a microsecond later. Then you can't get up. And then it gets worse: When you finally drag yourself out of bed, you look like youknowhat.

Can't imagine why the sleep gods had it in for you? Think about what you ate the night before, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of The Food & Mood Cookbook. Any of the following--much less a combo platter--can leave your body on uneasy street for hours.

1. Spicy Foods Garlic, chilies, cayenne, and other intense spices are yummy going down but can keep you up with heartburn or indigestion. Avoid MSG too, as it can trigger dreams that are a bit too vivid.

2. A Big Dinner An overtaxed digestive system takes hours to settle down and there's nothing restful about that. When sleep's critical, make lunch your largest meal and enjoy a light 500-calorie dinner early in the evening.

3. Raucous Veggies Eat those good-for-you-but-gassy foods--beans, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts--in the middle of the day. A tankful of gas can keep anyone up at night.

4. Speed Eating Relax and enjoy meals to avoid swallowing air, another common cause of midnight tummy trouble.

5. Nightcaps Alcohol may make you drowsy at first but later on it disturbs sleep patterns and leads to awakenings and restlessness. A 4-ounce glass of wine with dinner won't hurt, as long as it's not within two hours of bedtime.

6. Coffee after breakfast Caffeine can linger in your body for as long as 12 hours. So if you're often wide-eyed at bedtime, make sure you're caffeine-clean for at least 12 hours. (Skip tea, chocolate, cola, or other caffeine culprits too.) Still watching the clock at 2 a.m.? Wean yourself off even morning java, then stay caffeine-free for two weeks. If you definitely sleep better, you have your answer: Caffeine is not your friend. If the results are mixed, "Try adding back a cup or two of coffee or tea in the morning and watch what happens," says Somer. "But if sleeplessness comes back, cut it out."

Getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night doesn't just make your eyes bright, your skin happy, and your mind sharp, it can also make your RealAge as much as 3 years younger.

Providing infants with nutritious food is long-term economic investment

Scientists for the first time have come out with direct evidence that providing infants and very young children with healthy, nutritious food is a long-term economic investment for developing countries both in terms of human resources and a healthy society.

The authors of the study said in a teleconferencing from Washington DC, last night, that the study in Guatemala is the first to show direct evidence of the effects of early childhood nutrition programs on adult economic productivity and incomes. snows

The results of the study 'The Impact of Nutrition during Early Childhood on Income, Hours Worked, and Wages of Guatemalan Adults' carried out by John Hoddinott, John A. Maluccio, Jere R. Behrman, Rafael Flores, and Reynaldo Martorell are to published in tomorrow's issue of medical journal 'Lancet'.

"Although substantial, but indirect, evidence from previous research suggests that providing infants and very young children with healthy, nutritious food is a long-term economic investment for developing countries, this is the first direct evidence based on a result-oriented study," according to the study

The researches were conducted on four rural communities from Guatemala villages and they were given vegetable protein mixture with micronutrients, the scientists said, adding the African countries can use the study in their health policies.

The research was conducted in Guatemala by Emory University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlebury College.

Investments in early childhood nutrition can be long-term drivers of growth and a wise economic investment and the findings from the study show that improving nutrition in early childhood leads to significant increases in wage rates for men.

The authors said that the past research has demonstrated that the first two years of life are the "window of opportunity" when nutrition interventions have the greatest benefits for a child's health, growth, and development.

This study confirms that improving nutrition in early childhood also leads to healthier and more productive adults, bringing economic returns to both individuals and societies.

From 1969-1977, four rural communities in Guatemala participated in a food supplementation study, in which children received one of the two supplements fortified equally with micro nutrients. The first supplement was high in protein and energy; the second contained no protein and was low in energy, said the lead author Hoddinott.

The program enrolled all children and infants who were under seven years of age when the program was launched in 1969. Babies born during the study period were also included.

Children and infants continued to participate in the program until they were seven years old or until the study ended in 1977, whichever came first. Thus, the participating children were exposed to the supplement.

In 2002-2004, researchers returned to Guatemala to collect follow-up data and interview adults who had participated in the nutrition program as children.

Nearly 2,400 individuals were involved in the original study. At the time of follow-up, they were 25-42 years old. About 78 per cent of the individuals were alive and living in Guatemala; 11 percent had died; 7 per cent had left the country; and 4 per cent were untraceable, a IFPRI release said.

During the follow-up study, researchers collected economic data, including information about income-generating activities, from approximately 1,425 Guatemalans, or 60 per cent of the adults who were enrolled in the original program.

Researchers then calculated annual earned income, hours worked, and hourly wage rates for each adult. Respondents who were not engaged in economic activities or participating in the labour market were excluded from the analysis.

Boys who received the high-energy, high-protein supplement in the first two years of life earned on average 46 per cent higher wages as adults. Boys who received supplement in their first three years earned 37 percent higher wages on average.

However, those who first received the supplement after age three did not get any economic benefits as adults and consumption of supplement in childhood did not have an effect on women's income, probably because of gender differences in labour force participation and work activities.

In Guatemala, participation in the formal labour market is significantly lower for women than for men. However, first analysis suggests that schooling increased for women who had consumed supplement, and that reading comprehension increased significantly for both men and women.

Apples 'can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's'

An apple a day can keep the Alzheimer's away. A new study has found that the popular fruit contains protective antioxidants which help in reducing the risk of dementia in people.

According to the study by researchers in the United States, not only apples, other fruits like oranges and bananas are important sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre which protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. The researchers at the Cornell University came to the conclusion after investigating the effects of apple, banana, and orange extracts on neuron cells.

They found that the phenolic phytochemicals of the fruits prevented neurotoxicity on the cells. Among the three fruits, apples contained the highest content of protective antioxidants, followed by bananas then oranges. "Our study demonstrated that antioxidants in the major fresh fruits consumed in the United States and Korea protected neuronal cells from oxidative stress.

"Additional consumption of fresh fruits such as apple, banana, and orange may be beneficial to improve effects in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's," the researchers wrote in the 'Journal of Food Science'.

The study came just days after British scientists discovered the key to reversing the effects of dementia. The researchers at the University of Sunderland found that regular exposure to safe low-level, infra-red light could turn back the brain's biological clock and reverse the effects of memory loss.

In fact, their study showed that the treatment could improve learning performance and also kick-start the cognitive function of the brain, particularly in those suffering from gradual memory loss.

Fizzy drinks linked to gout

Men who consume large amounts of fizzy or sugary drinks are at higher risk of contracting gout than those who abstain, a new study has concluded.

Researchers from Harvard and the University of Vancouver found that those who consumed five or six sweet beverages a week were nearly 30% more likely to suffer attacks of the illness than those who drank less than one serving monthly. The risk rose to 85% for those drinking two or more a day.

As well as sugar in drinks, the study found that natural fruit sugar, or fructose, posed a substantial risk for gout.

That means people who drank orange or apple juice or even ate those fruit regularly were prone to the illness. Meanwhile, diet soft drinks, which often contain sweetener rather than fructose, were not found to be associated with gout.

"The risk of gout was about twice as high among men in the highest fifth of free fructose consumption than among men in the lowest fifth… the current study provides prospective evidence that fructose and fructose-rich foods are important risk factors in the primary prevention of gout in men."

Hyon K Choi and Gary Curham surveyed over 46,000 male medical professionals aged 45-70 with no history of the illness over a period of 12 years, as part of a wider study into diet and general health. A total of 755 reported incidents of the condition. The link between gout and sugary drinks and fructose remained even when accounting for age, alcohol consumption, body mass and high blood pressure.

Gout is caused by a build-up of uric acid in the bloodstream and can cause joint swelling, inflammation and acute pain in the extremities. Uric acid is produced by the kidneys and digestive system from purines, which normally occur in rich food, meat and beer. Women are less likely to suffer from the condition.

Fructose is often used as a substitute for sugar, especially in high-fructose corn syrup, which is cheaper than cane sugar. It is a common ingredient in fizzy drinks. The risk is such that researchers caution that patients who switch from purine-rich food to improve their gout could in fact make it worse if they start eating large amounts of fructose.

The study is published in the latest edition of the British Medical Journal.

Girls with big breasts are more prone to diabetes

Toronto: Girls with big breasts have a 68 percent higher chance of developing diabetes by middle age than their small-breasted counterparts, according to a new study by Canadian scientists.

The decade-long study to find the link between big breasts and diabetes development among nurses in the US shows that those with bigger breasts at the age of 20 are at a higher risk of developing the disease in later years.

Joel Ray, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and a clinician-scientist at the local St Michael's Hospital, said this was "the broad conclusion" of his research team on the basis on this study.

"Our findings are based on data from the Nurses Health Study II project in 14 American states. In a nutshell, 92,102 nurses were studied for link between their breast size and their chances of developing diabetes by the age of 35. The bigger their breasts are at the age of 20, the bigger their chances of developing diabetes," Ray said.

However, Ray was quick to add that the breast size could be one of the factors, apart from smoking, family history, diet and ethnicity that trigger diabetes in women.

"Obesity remains a big factor. Obese women tend to have larger breasts, thereby becoming more prone to diabetes," he said.

From these findings, he said, it will be interesting to study how breast fat influences insulin resistance.

Ray emphasised that their research was preliminary at this stage and should not be taken at its face value.

Women should not think about breast surgeries to minimise their chances of developing diabetes.

"It is an interesting possibility that needs to be studied before we can say anything," he said.

During the study, he said, it was found that nurses with a family history of diabetes or those who smoked were more prone to developing the disease.

"Out of 92,102 nurses in the decade-long study, 1,844 developed diabetes."

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also showed that big-breasted nurses reported being heavier than others at young ages of five and 10, and entering puberty earlier. Ray said there is a definite link between early puberty among fat girls, insulin resistance and their predisposition to diabetes.

Breast tissue is extremely sensitive to hormones. Since insulin is a hormone, there is resistance to it by breast tissue, he said. A bigger breast means more insulin resistance and more chances of diabetes.

Ray said he was not sure how important these findings were for Indian and South Asian women.

"Since this study was conducted on mostly white women, I won't say how significant it is for Indian and South Asia women. Diabetes in India is becoming rampant because of genetic and other reasons," he said.