Health Newsletter:June 2006
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Contents |
Probiotics Help Gut Against Stress
In times of stress our bodies react: the heart will beat faster, palms will feel sweaty, and a difficult situation may manifest itself in other reactions of the body. In every day's terms we speak about something "being a pain in the neck", or the fear of an exam showing up as "butterflies in the stomach". Dr. Mary Perdue of the Intestinal Diseases Research Program at Mc Master University in Hamilton, Ontario went a step further. The fact that mental stress can bring physiologic changes in the lining of the intestine has been known for some time. As a result the epithelium (the lining) is more vulnerable to the attack of pathogenic bacteria. The researchers put a solution of lactobacillus to the test, to see whether these gut-friendly bacilli could offer some help. Stressed rats that received the treatment with lactobacillus showed a remarkable degree of protection. The stressed and treated animals were almost as resistant to intestinal pathogens as animals that had not been stressed at all. Contrary to that the non-stressed animals did not show much evidence of bacterial adhesion or penetration: they were more resistant to the attack of bacteria to their guts.
Dr. Perdue explains that it may be difficult to extrapolate from the rat model to the human model. Yet it is clear that humans who are stressed can develop intestinal dysfunction over time, or gastro-intestinal symptoms can be exacerbated by stress.
In the meantime probiotics are recommended by many doctors and nutritionists to help restore the gut's natural flora. New guidelines from Yale Medical School recommend them for diarrhea in children and adults and in diarrhea, which comes as a result of treatment with antibiotics.
More research is needed, but existing data suggest that probiotics can help manage lactose intolerance, prevent infections, and reduce inflammation. It can lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure and may help with prevention of colon cancer.
National Review of Medicine, May 15, 2006, page 8
Antibacterial Hand Soaps Pose Hazard
In the quest of killing hazardous bacteria, antibacterial hand soaps are claiming a slice of the market. Bacteria can be hazardous and it remains a fact, that hand washing is an effective way to eliminate harmful bugs. It is not the quick, five-second wash under the water tab that gets rid of the bugs. The old trick of telling kids to sing the "ABC Song" while washing their hands with soap and water still has some merit: you need 20 to 30 seconds of washing and rinsing to combat bacteria effectively.
In the meantime Researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report, that the antibacterial agent in hand soaps, triclocarban, is not without risk. Triclocarban, commercially known as TCC, is a pesticide and is used extensively in soaps and body washes. One commercial survey found it in 30% of bar soaps. If it sounds questionable to the consumer to wash hands or body with a product that contains a pesticide, it rings even more alarm bells with scientists that observe the impact of the product on the environment. After 19 days of treatment time in the sewage treatment plant, 76 % of the ingredient is still present in the treated sludge. Treated sludge is later used as a fertilizer! Triclocarban is toxic when ingested and is part of toxic waste. After reviewing all these facts, the consumer has to make the decision whether overkill with antibacterial hand soaps is such a good idea. Reading product labels and sticking to less toxic products may very well be the more sensible choice.
The Medical Post, May 16, 2006, page 47
Ginger Kills Ovarian Cancer
Active substances in ginger are killing cancer cells in lab experiments. This is the gist of laboratory studies led by Dr. J. Rebecca Liu at the University of Michigan medical school. The findings on these studies were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. In the past it has been implied that the substances [6]-gingerol and [6]-paradol interfere with carcinogenic processes. Gingerol also has been linked with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The research group from Ann Arbor used whole ginger extract which was standardized to a contents of 5% [6[-gingerol to explore the death of ovarian cancer cells in vitro. They suggest that ginger can circumvent chemoresistance. Due to this quality ginger substances can be effective in cancer cells that have been resistant to chemotherapy. Other substances and their effect on cancer cells that are closer examined by the researchers are resveratol and curcumin.
The Medical Post, May 9, 2006, page 15
Uterine Artery Embolization Against Fibroids
Uterine fibroids are the most common uterine tumors that affect women in North America. At least 25% have the symptoms that point to a diagnosis of fibroids, and as many as 77% may have fibroids that are asymptomatic. Symptoms of fibroids can be a feeling of fullness in the pelvic area, heavy periods and bleeding between the periods resulting in anemia. Infertility and miscarriages can also be a consequence.
About 60% of women with fibroids will undergo surgery, but the trend is moving towards nonsurgical treatment. 40% of fibroid patients will receive uterine artery embolization (UAE).
The advantages are significant, reports Dr. Sanjoy Kundu, a radiologist at Scarborough General Hospital in Toronto. Compared to the less invasive UAE, firoid surgery has a higher rate of major complications like infection and pulmonary embolism. None of the patients undergoing uterine artery embolization experienced any complications of infection or pulmonary embolism. UAE patients also have shorter hospital stays ranging from 1 to 4 days, whereas surgical patients had hospital stays ranging from 2 to 25 days.
Due to these positive findings, 60% of treatments for uterine fibroids at Scarborough General Hospital are now done exclusively with the less invasive procedure, and researchers suggest that UAE for the removal of fibroids should become first-line therapy.
The Medical Post, April18, 2006, page 16
Screening Colonoscopy Highly Effective
The proverbial "ounce of prevention" can be very crucial when it comes to cancer screening methods. Cancer screening has been in the forefront for some time. Early disease detection is not only crucial for successful treatment; it can be a lifesaver!
Effective screening methods are available for some forms of cancer. Mammography screening for breast cancer and rectal examination and PSA tests for prostate cancer are methods that have received attention in the media.
Screening the large intestine for colon cancer by performing a colonoscopy has not made inroads, but new statistics point out the benefits. A colonoscopy will examine the colon for irregularities, namely the formation of polyps. Polyps are initially harmless and non-cancerous, however over time, some polyps have the potential to turn cancerous. In a colonoscopy examination, small polyps can be removed immediately, and this "weeding out" process is a highly effective preventative method against colon cancer. Research has shown, that one colonoscopy that is performed in a middle-aged patient (in his 50's or 60's) decreases the risk of developing colon cancer quite significantly. If no polyps are found in the initial screening, it is safe to assume that no colon cancer will present itself for 10 years.
Dr. Harminder Singh and associates from Cancer Care Manitoba and the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg Manitoba/Canada, analyzed data of the Manitoba Health's physicians' database where 35,975 patients had undergone a colonoscopy, but were negative for colon cancer.These colonoscopies took place between April 1, 1989, and December 31, 2003 and follow-up was for 10 years. The end point was death or diagnosis of colon cancer. This retrospective study showed the following results depicted in the modified graph bar. Patients who were negative in the beginning of the study had a reduction of colon cancer rates of 72% at the 10-year point when compared to those who had no colonoscopy. This is quite an astounding finding. Even at the 5-year point there was a reduction of colon cancer risk by 45% from a single colonoscopy. This would indicate that a person should have a colonoscopy at about the age of 50 to establish freedom of colon cancer. This could be repeated only every 10 years to ensure that no colon polyps and colon cancer develop in the meantime. This should be definitely done in patients who have a family history where colon cancer occurred in a first relative such as mother, father, brother or sister. In this familial form of colon cancer they likely should have a colonoscopy done earlier (at age 40 or earlier). However, this data would indicate that in everybody such colonoscopy screening would be beneficial as it is one of the most common cancers in men and women and other tests are not reliable at this time.
JAMA. 2006;295: page 2366-2373
