The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Daily multivitamins found to reduce cancer risk Posted: 18 Oct 2012 08:23 AM PDT NEW YORK, Oct 18 — A new study announced Wednesday finds that daily multivitamins may reduce the risk of cancer in middle-aged men. The trial looked at nearly 15,000 men, 50 years old at the start of the study, who took multivitamins daily over the course of a decade. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US found this daily habit led to a modest but "statistically significant reduction" in cancers. The study appears in the journal JAMA. To reach their findings, the team analysed data from the Physician's Health Study, the only large-scale, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing the long-term effects of a common multivitamin in the prevention of chronic disease. Men who took a multivitamin every day saw an eight per cent reduction in total cancer incidence compared to men who took a placebo sugar pill. "Many studies have suggested that eating a nutritious diet may reduce a man's risk of developing cancer," researcher Dr. Howard Sesso told the BBC. "Now we know that taking a daily multivitamin, in addition to addressing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, may also be considered in the prevention of cancer in middle-aged and older men." A rat study published this February found that vitamin and mineral supplements in a regular diet may significantly cut the risk of colon cancer. Findings were published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Obesity surgery is good for the heart, says research Posted: 18 Oct 2012 07:23 AM PDT PARIS, Oct 18 — Bariatric surgery to help the obese shed weight also reduces risks of cardiovascular disease, according to a review published on Wednesday in the specialist journal Heart. Restrictive bands on the stomach or surgery to bypass part of the digestive tract are sometimes used to help morbidly obese patients lose weight when drugs or changes in diet and exercise fail. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, carried out a database trawl to pick out 73 previous studies, covering nearly 20,000 people, that detailed weight and other health issues before and after bariatric surgery. Three-quarters of the patients were women, whose average age was 41. After the operation, participants lost on average 54 pe rcent of the excess weight they were carrying, a tally that ranged from 16 to 87 per cent. High blood pressure improved in 63 per cent of patients, diabetes in 73 per cent and blood cholesterol in 65 per cent of them. A further 18 studies, covering 713 other people, found that surgery led to improvements in the heart function, such as its ability to pump out and refill with blood. The review was not without limitations, the authors said. The studies did not look at the same operative techniques or share the same criteria for measuring improvements. There were also blanks in "followup," or monitoring patients for a long time after their operation. Even so, the picture is strong enough to say that bariatric surgery has gone "beyond the realms of a cosmetic procedure" and to a potentially life-saving option for the right patient, the review said. It also cautioned of the risks involved in bariatric surgery. Statistics point to a 0.3 per cent risk of death, a five pe rcent risk of intestinal obstruction and eight per cent risk of an ulcer. — AFP-Relaxnews |
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