Grapefruit, Other Juices Block Drug Absorbency Rate

It’s been almost 20 years since Canadian David G. Bailey, PhD, reported his surprising finding that taking certain medications, including commonly prescribed blood pressure medications, with grapefruit juice increases the body’s absorbency rate of these particular drugs, causing the drugs to be absorbed in such quantities that the therapeutic effect can be heightened to the point of threatened overdose.  Earlier today, Bailey reported to the American Chemical Society that further research has proven that grapefruit juice has just the opposite effect on other drugs, hindering their absorption in ways that render them useless in many cases. Read more

Dream of the Future: Chocolate as Brain Food

As if chocolate lovers needed yet another reason to indulge guilt free, researchers from Harvard University and Mars, Incorporated, have released their findings that a naturally occurring substance in cocoa can actually bring long-term improvements to the flow of blood to the brain in ways that may have the potential of easing the damage of a stroke or slowing the progression of dementia.  Currently, one in seven older Americans is battling age-related dementia. Read more

Newly Identified Free Radicals More Dangerous

It’s generally understood that smoking cigarettes dramatically increases one’s likelihood of developing lung cancer. But people who’ve never smoked also get lung cancer. Theories abound but there’s no generally accepted reason, other than second-hand smoke, as to why nonsmokers get lung cancer. A team of research scientists in Louisiana have just announced the discovery of a group of air pollutants, previously unknown, that is thought to be a likely culprit. Read more

Longer Hours, Fewer Days May Promote Worker Health, Productivity

Calling it a Compressed Working Week, British researchers are suggesting a shorter work week may improve the detrimental health effects of shift work at the same time it improves employee morale and boosts productivity.  Twenty percent of all European workers are involved with shift work in one form or another, usually working five 8-hour days.  The research team says both the employee and the employer may benefit from three or four 12-hour days instead. Read more

Drugs As Good As Stents For Angina Pain

Someone suffering from the frightening chest pain of angina is no doubt ready for a quick fix to make that pain go away. Many angina patients turn to stents for the quickest relief, opting out of drug therapy, which takes a little longer to take effect. New information made available in today’s New England Journal of Medicine says, in the long run, the pain-relieving effects of stenting, or angioplasty, disappears in two or three years’ time, eventually bringing no more relief than a steady course of drug therapy would have. Read more

Teens’ Strong Bones Start With Childhood Dairy Intake

A childhood diet rich in dairy products builds strong bones for the growing child but a new study from Boston University School of Medicine indicates that the same diet continues to ensure healthy bones until the child is well into adolescence.    The findings of the study will soon be available in The Journal of Pediatrics. Read more

Low Vitamin D Might Hasten Death

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, report that people with low levels of vitamin D in their bloodstreams are at greater risk of dying from any cause than someone getting more of the vitamin. Read more

Young Men at Risk Not Getting PSA Screenings

Duke University Medical Center’s Prostate Center has just released the outcome of their survey that explored the prevalence of PSA screening tests in men younger than 50.  A recent study suggesting men who are not expected to live 10 more years should not get routine PSA tests has led to an update of generally accepted guidelines that call for an annual screening for every man age 50 or older and beginning at age 40 for men who fall in high-risk categories. Read more

Problematic Meatpacker Source of Whole Foods Recall

On Friday, Whole Foods Market issued a recall of all ground beef sold under the Coleman Natural Foods brand name between June 2 and August 6.  Consumers who have Coleman beef bought at Whole Foods Market are urged to discard the contents and save either the packaging or the store receipt to get a refund. Read more

Eat Fish Often for Mental Clarity in Senior Years

Researchers in Finland have just published their findings on a study that compared a diet rich in fish to a diet with little, if any, fish and discovered that the fishy diet eaters reduced their risk of stroke, with their rate of risk diminished where fish consumption was highest.  As long as the fish wasn’t fried, anyway. Read more

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