You may have heard claims that the supplement coenzyme Q10 can lower blood pressure, boost the immune system and improve certain heart diseases. There are also claims it can help fight cancer, Parkinson’s disease, wrinkles, diabetes, gum diseases and many other problems.
An extensive NIH-supported study has found that low-intensity laser treatment, thought to be possibly beneficial in slowing or preventing the loss of vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is ineffective in preventing complications of AMD or loss of vision. This is the major conclusion of the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT), a research study of more than 1,000 people that will be published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Ophthalmology. The study was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health.
The health effects of wine (and alcohol in general) are the subject of considerable ongoing study. In the USA, a boom in red wine consumption was touched off in the 1990s by ’60 Minutes’, and other news reports on the French paradox. Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes.
An extensive NIH-supported study has found that low-intensity laser treatment, thought to be possibly beneficial in slowing or preventing the loss of vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is ineffective in preventing complications of AMD or loss of vision. This is the major conclusion of the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT), a research study of more than 1,000 people that will be published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Ophthalmology. The study was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A compromised immune system makes people more prone to contracting a cold or flu, and Cognis is helping companies meet the growing demand worldwide for immunity boosting dietary supplements and functional foods. Colds and flu are the most frequent infections across all age groups. Each year, Americans suffer from one billion colds, 100,000 are hospitalized and about 36,000 die from the flu and its complications. Immune health is also a global concern with frequent colds and flu ranked as one of the top three health problems by consumers in China, India and Latin America.
Diabetes is a growing health problem. Giving antioxidants is recognised as one way of helping people with diabetes to control their blood sugar levels. The herbal medicine extracted from seeds of the Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum (silymarin) is known to have antioxidant properties and research published this week in Phytotherapy Research shows that this extract can help people significantly lower the amount of sugar bound to haemoglobin in blood, as well as reducing fasting blood sugar levels.
Vegetables – particularly green, leafy ones – will preserve the brain power if you eat three servings a day, new research shows. People who consumed two or more vegetables a day had a 35 to 40 percent decrease in the decline in thinking ability over six years. That’s the equivalent of being five years younger in age. The study results are published in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Neurology.
For those who think that picking and eating apples this time of year is just for fun and for the great taste of America’s favorite fruit, you may want to think again. Apples and apple juice may be among the best foods that anyone could add to their diet, finds a collection of recent research studies, the latest of which was presented yesterday at the Society of Neuroscience annual conference in Atlanta. Researchers G. Bureau and M. Martinoli from the University of Quebec a Trois-Rivieres, found that quercetin (one of the antioxidants found abundantly in apples) was one of two compounds that helped to reduce cellular death that is caused by oxidation and inflammation of neurons.
Grape seed extract significantly inhibited the growth of colorectal tumors in both laboratory cell cultures and in mice, U.S. researchers report. A team from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver says mice given the extract displayed a 44 percent reduction in the size of advanced colorectal tumors.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a nationwide study to see if a modified combination of vitamins, minerals, and fish oil can further slow the progression of vision loss from AMD, the leading cause of vision loss in the United States for people over age 60. This new study, called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2), will build upon results from the earlier Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). The original study results were released five years ago today. The study found that high-dose antioxidant vitamins and minerals (vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper), taken by mouth, reduced the risk of progression to advanced AMD by 25 percent, and the risk of moderate vision loss by 19 percent.