Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Flu Vaccine for People with Type 1 Diabetes.
Source: Vaccine
Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreatic beta cells fail to secrete insulin. It is thought that the disease is caused by a genetic predisposition for an abnormal immune response to beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans. People with certain health conditions such as asthma, arthritis or lupus, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and heart or kidney disease may face special medical challenges during flu season. A study conducted during the 2007-2008 flu season in Milan, Italy evaluated the long-lasting immune response of a virosomal flu vaccine in subjects with type 1 diabetes.
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Monday, November 02, 2009
Berberine, Red Yeast Rice and Policosanol Effective in Treating Hyperlipidemia.
Source: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease
If your health professional says you have hyperlipidemia, this simply means the amount of fat in your blood is higher than it should be. Red yeast rice is a fungus that grows on starchy foods. Policosanol is a natural mixture of higher aliphatic primary alcohols isolated from sugar cane wax with other sources obtaining policosanol from the wax of honeybees. A study published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease evaluated whether some nutraceuticals that are prescribed as lipid-lowering substances are actually safe and effective.
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Omega-3 May Reduce the Incidence of Heart Failure.
Source: European Journal of Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure is a health condition in which the pumping ability of the heart becomes weak. Omega-3 refers to a group or "family" of unsaturated fatty acids. The first fatty acid in this group is named alpha linolenic acid or just linolenic acid, and sometimes it is just called omega-3. Previous studies have found that omega-3 fish oil could reduce the incidence of heart failure in adults.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Aloe Vera in the Treatment of Psoriasis.
Source: Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
Psoriasis is one of mankind's most common skin conditions. Approximately 2 percent of the US population has psoriasis. Aloe is a succulent plant, mostly found in East and South Africa that has been used medicinally for centuries. A recent clinical trial sought to evaluate the efficacy of aloe vera (AV) cream for treating mild to moderate plaque psoriasis and compare its results to patients using triamcinolone acetonide (TA).
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Weight Training May Prevent Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Survivors.
Source: Osteoporosis International
Osteoporosis is characterized by abnormally low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to increased bone fragility, and a consequent increase in fracture risk. The term osteoporosis is widely used clinically to mean generalized loss of bone, or osteopenia, accompanied by relatively atraumatic fractures of the spine, wrist, hips, or ribs. Weight training is a type of strength training using weights for resistance to develop strength and size of skeletal muscles. A recent study examined whether weight training exercises helped to maintain or improve bone mineral density in 223 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors.
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