China on Saturday approved a long-awaited food safety law, state media reported, in a bid to end repeated scandals involving dangerous food products in the country.
The law has been in the works since October last year after a huge scandal erupted over contaminated milk which killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others in China.
“The law will see the establishment of a monitoring and supervision system, a set of national standards on food safety, a recall system, and severe punishment for offenders,” the official Xinhua news agency said.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Eating fish at least twice a week seems to reduce the incidence of kidney disease in patients with diabetes, according to findings from a large British study.
Although diabetics are advised to limit dietary protein to delay the progression of kidney disease, recent observations suggest that the benefit to the kidneys may have to do with “the protein source rather than quantity,” the investigators note in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
Despite research linking fish to improved outcomes in diabetics, they add, epidemiological evidence of this benefit is scarce.
Physical inactivity or lack of exercise may dramatically increase risk of breast cancer, according to a new report published in the Dec 2008 issue of Cancer Causes and Control.
The report by Coyle Y.M at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX says exercise lowers estrogen levels that if high would cause a higher risk of breast cancer.
Coyle suggests that estrogen induces breast cancer by increasing breast epithelial cell proliferation, the metabolism of estrogen to genotoxic metabolites and the silencing of tumor suppressor genes (TSGS) that have been implicated in breast carcinogenesis.
Is it just me, or does it seem like, these days, almost everyone has cancer somewhere in their family tree? Terrifying? Totally. But the good, absolutely fantastic, news is that regardless of your family history, you can very easily lower your cancer risk. The best way to start: Pile some delicious food on your fork, chew, swallow and repeat.
It turns out that a healthy diet can help to override any cancer-prone genes you might have at work in your body. “Nutrition has a bigger influence on cancer than inherited genes, which means you could significantly reduce your odds of the disease through diet alone,” explains Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of Eat for Health (Gift of Health Press).
In patients with coronary artery disease, angioplasty isn’t a cost-effective treatment, according to a U.S. study that assessed the costs of hospitalization and medication among 2,287 patients treated between 1999 and 2004.
The researchers analyzed data from the COURAGE trial and concluded that angioplasty may add $10,000 to treatment costs “without significant gain in life years or quality-adjusted life years.”
Some of the patients received balloon angioplasty (percutaneous coronary intervention — PCI) plus optimal medical therapy, while others received optimal medical therapy alone. The study found that 4.6 years after treatment, there was no difference in the two groups’ rates of death or heart attack, but patients who received PCI did have an improved quality of life.
A substance found in broccoli may limit the damage which leads to serious lung disease, research suggests.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often caused by smoking and kills about 30,000 UK residents a year.
US scientists found that sulforapane increases the activity of the NRF2 gene in human lung cells which protects cells from damage caused by toxins.
The same broccoli compound was recently found to be protective against damage to blood vessels caused by diabetes.
Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Controlling illness is important for anyone, but prudent medical care is even more vital for diabetics. Hormones released during illness and other times of stress can affect blood sugar levels.
The American Diabetes Association suggests that diabetics should call the doctor if they aren’t sure how to care for themselves, or if they have these warning signs:
Scientists believe about 30 percent of white people of European ancestry have this variant, including the Amish, and that may partly explain why so many people are overweight.
But fighting that fat factor may be easier in the Amish community’s 19th century rural lifestyle. They don’t use cars or modern appliances. Many of the men are farmers and carpenters, and the women, who are homemakers, often care for several children.
The researchers found that Amish people with the genetic variant were no more likely to be overweight than those who had the regular version of the gene — as long as they got three to four hours of moderate activity every day. That included things like brisk walking, housecleaning and gardening.
It seems like every other day we hear about another health benefit to adding omega-3 fatty acids to our diet. This group of fats, the kind found in fish oil, have been proven to reduce the risk of some forms of cancer, relieve joint pain and other rheumatoid problems, and lessen the effects of depression and other mental disorders. Omega-3 fats can also help with some forms of skin problems and has been reported to ward off Alzheimer’s disease. And most recently, daily fish oil supplements were shown to benefit the heart of people with chronic heart failure-slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug!
For the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) study, Italian researchers enlisted more than 7,000 people who had been diagnosed with heart failure, a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and loses its ability to effectively pump blood around the body. Half of the participants were given a daily capsule of omega-3, in addition to their other daily medications, while the other half took a placebo. They were followed for an average of four years, during which 1,981 (27 percent) of the group taking omega-3 died of heart failure or were admitted to the hospital with cardiovascular problems, compared to 2,053 (29 percent) of the placebo group.
Can my dentist improve my smile?
From subtle changes to major repairs, your dentist can perform a variety of procedures to improve your smile. There are many techniques and options to treat teeth that are discolored, chipped, misshapen or missing. Your dentist can reshape your teeth, close spaces, restore worn or short teeth or alter the length of your teeth. Common procedures include bleaching, bonding, caps, crowns, veneers, and reshaping and contouring.
These improvements are not always cosmetic. Many of these treatments can improve oral problems, such as your bite.
Bleaching
Bleaching is a common and popular chemical process used to whiten teeth. Some people get their teeth bleached to make stains disappear, while other just want a whiter shade.
