Jon's Health Tips - Latest Health Research

Wow - it's been a busy three weeks health news wise - so I will use a short-hand approach to much of this report (click on links for details):


Things I do that are good for me:

Regular aspirin intake halves hereditary cancer risk

Strawberries Protect the Stomach from Alcohol

Exercise Eases Arthritis

Diet lower in fat and higher in fiber may lower risk for chronic disease

Watermelon reduces atherosclerosis

Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells

Consumption of black tea and fruit may protect against lung cancer

Physical fitness = reduced risk of glaucoma

Light drinking = significant decrease in cancer risk

Early mortality risk reduced up to 40 percent through increased physical activity and sports

Omega-3 fatty acids shown to prevent or slow progression of osteoarthritis

Eating green veggies improves immune defenses

Exercise Just as Good as Drugs at Preventing Migraines

Eating Fruits and Raw Vegetables Can Change the Effect of Your Genes

The researchers discovered the gene that is the strongest marker for heart disease can actually be modified by generous amounts of fruit and raw vegetables.

Health benefits of broccoli require the whole food, not supplements

Statins reduce severity of head injuries

Things I don't do that would be good for me:

Coffee consumption associated with decreased risk for basal cell carcinoma

Soy protein improves lipid profile in healthy individuals

Things that are bad for me:

I don't take Tylenol and I limit my use of Advil to really bad headaches:

Analgesics Use Associated With Increased Risk for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (including Advil) was associated with a significantly increased risk for developing renal cell carcinoma, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011. It has previously been reported that people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (other than aspirin) such as ibuprofen (Advil) may have a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke than people who do not take these medications.

I try to keep my stress levels down, but it doesn't always work:

HIGH TO MODERATE LEVELS OF STRESS LEAD TO HIGHER MORTALITY RATE

A new study concludes that men who experience persistently moderate or high levels of stressful life events over a number of years have a 50 percent higher mortality rate.

In general, the researchers found only a few protective factors against these higher levels of stress – people who self-reported that they had good health tended to live longer and married men also fared better. Moderate drinkers also lived longer than non-drinkers.

I stopped taking Vitamin E quite a while ago, but this is scary:

Increased prostate cancer risk from vitamin E supplements

I don't take any of the herbal supplements listed here (or any other herbal supplements), but still worry about the supplements I do take:

Herbal Supplements May Cause Dangerous Drug Interactions

Things I hardly ever do, but could do more of without risk:

Biggest ever study shows no link between mobile phone use and tumors

This is really weird - (fish bad, high fat dairy good?) I don't know quite what to make of it. One possibility - a lot of the fish consumed was fried, and accompanied by french fries.

Dietary Patterns = Increased Colorectal Cancer Risk in Women

The researchers found that those women who most often consumed high amounts of red meat, fish and sugar-sweetened beverages and low amounts of high-fat dairy, coffee and whole grains had a 35 percent increased risk for colorectal cancer.

I don't agree with this article because it lumps in all supplements (such as Omega 3 oil, Co-enzyme Q, and alpha lipoic acid, all of which I take) with vitamins, and, as the commenters point out, ignores the importance of taking Vitamin D (the only vitamin I take) supplements:

Is This the End of Popping Vitamins?

The case for dietary supplements is collapsing.

A succession of large-scale human studies, including two published earlier this month in leading medical journals, suggests that multivitamins and many other dietary supplements often don't have health benefits—and in some cases may even cause harm.