Health Information Snippets
Healthy and wise beats wealthy anyday!

As published in HealthDay today – there’s a list of cancer fighting foods that have been proven to actually prevent the onset of a variety of cancers. These foods include the much touted gingko biloba, garlic, cabbage and also would you believe brocolli sprouts (so grandma was right in advising you to eat your sprouts!

Brocolli sprouts – the stomach protector and stomach cancer fighting food

Studies conducted in the University of Tsukuba Japen found that in 20 people who ate a diet rich in brocolli sprouts had significantly reduced numbers of Helicobacter pylori (the stomach ulcer forming bug). This bug has been found to be a major factor in the formation of stomach ulcers and stomach cancer. Whilst the diet rich in brocolli sprouts did not eliminate the bacteria totally, it’s certainly a good (and safe) way to encourage people already with the condition that with a simple change in their dietary intake of brocolli sprouts they can significantly reduce the likelihood of more peptic ulcers and stomach cancer formation. The active ingredient in brocolli sprouts that have the cancer fighting properties is sulforaphane – a highly effective anti-oxidant. On another note, another study (this time in skin cancer) found that an extract of brocolli sprouts when smeared on the skin of hairless mice reduced the chances of skin cancer formation by 1/2.

Cabbage and sauerkraut – breast cancer fighting food

A Polish women’s health study has shown an association between eating cabbage and sauerkraut the and lowering of the risk of breast cancer. Before you head out to buy more cabbage, note that the study showed that the effect seemed to be the highest among women who eat high amount from adolescence and keep on keeping on till adulthood. The best protective effects were found in people who ate raw or mildly cooked cabbage.

Gingko biloba – ovarian cancer fighting food

Gingko biloba has been found by Boston researchers to lower the risk of women developing ovarian cancer. This wonder ingredient has been used in herbal supplements (especially in Chinese medicine) for ages in the treatment of cancer but as yet there had been little scientific evidence to support its use. It was discovered that 2 primary compounds in gingko biloba- ginkgolide A and B were the most active components contributing to this cancer protective effect. The good news is that the proliferation rates in certain types of cancer cells was inhibited by 80 percent with these compounds.

Garlic – the condiment with class and protective effects

In the final study, researchers found that garlic may help ward off carcinogens produced by meat cooked at high temperatures. Cooking meats and eggs at high temperatures releases a chemical called PhIP, which may be a carcinogen. Garlic contains diallyl sulfide (DAS) and appears to inhibit the effects of PhIP that can cause DNA damage or transform substances in the body into carcinogens. Using human breast epithelial cells, equal amounts of PhIP and DAS were added to the cells separately, and the two together, for periods ranging from three to 24 hours. The study showed that whilst PhIP induced expression of the cancer-causing enzyme at every stage, up to 40-fold, DAS (found in garlic) actually completely inhibited the PhIP enzyme from becoming carcinogen – a cancer forming agent.

So where does this leave us? Increasing your daily consumption of vegetables and fruit is a must if you are serious about reducing your chances of getting cancer.

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What is meningitis?

Meningitis is specifically an inflammation of the meninges – which are the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by viruses or bacteria and less commonly something like a fungal infection. The problem that you have is that a lot of the bugs that do cause meningitis in some are pretty common and are often associated with everyday illnesses. Although there are some culprits that do crop up on most occasions, others are just your everyday enteroviruses (stomach ‘flu bugs’). So in general most doctors when they suspect a patient of having meningitis will want to know (and will conduct tests to find out) whether the patient has bacterial meningitis or viral meningitis.

Viral meningitis symptoms

Viral meningitis more common and tends to be far less serious than bacterial meningitis. The symptoms of viral meningitis often mimics the flu and therefore a lot of the times it remains undiagnosed. Due to the link to particular viral agents eg enteroviruses (your stomach bugs), doctors will tend to see more cases in the warmer months of summer and fall. It used to be the mumps virus which was the main virus causing meningitis but now with the advent of MMR vaccinations, the number of cases has dropped dramatically.

Symptoms may include :

• usually starts off with a cold and runny nose
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• fever
• lethargy
• irritability
• headache
• stiff neck
• avoiding the light – photophobia
• seizures
• rash – petechiae – little spots or larger bruising spots

Bacterial meningitis symptoms

Bacterial meningitis is often a lot more severe than viral meningitis and can be potentially life threatening. These are the cases you often see highlighted in current affair shows where the patient ends up with neurological deficits if prompt treatment wasn’t given. The se neurological problems include hearing loss, visual problems, seizures, and learning disabilities. Other organs like the heart, kidneys, and adrenal glands may also be affected. Prompt diagnosis and treatment is the key to have the disease resolve with no long term complications.

Bacterial meningitis symptoms are similar to that mentioned above in the list under viral meningitis although most bacterial meningitis cases, the fever does tend to be higher and the patient more ‘ill’.

See other medical symptoms

Pneumonia – what is it

Put simply, it’s an infection involving the lungs. Sometimes it’s referred to as bronchopneumonia (involving the bronchi or bronchioles – which are the larger airways in the lungs) or pneumonitis (inflammation of the lungs).

Pneumonia symptoms

Okay it’s going to be hard to miss. Most people with pneumonia have the following symptoms :

• severe coughing – often productive and pus like secretions with the cough
• chest pains
• breathing difficulties – often increased rate of breathing
• wheezing
• fatigue from usual everyday activity and feeling breathless with minor activity (short of breath)
• fever with cold chills

These symptoms are often difficult to pick in young infants or children but any child that has a persistent cough and a fever that lasts for more than 48 hours should be checked by a doctor. Young children have smaller airways which tend to clog up with mucus and also constrict more readily which can result in wheeziness and an increased risk in developing complications from cold/flu/pneumococcus virus. It’s often best to try to catch the illness early BEFORE it develops into pneumonia and treat it before it gets any worse.

See other medical symptoms

What’s an allergy?

We’ve heard it bantered around but what is an allergy? Is it any different from an intolerance? ie When someone says ‘I have a dairy allergy’, is it any different from someone with ‘lactose intolerance’?

Allergies develop as the body’s immune system reacts to different proteins we are exposed to (whether it’s via inhaling them, ingesting them, touching them or being exposed to them inadvertently eg via a bee sting). The triggers (these proteins) are called allergens. What happens in an allergic reaction is that the body reacts to these allergens as potential ‘threats’ and therefore unleashes antibodies (principally IgE – immunoglobulin E) in an attempt to counter them. It’s believed that allergic reactions in the past were reserved primarily for parasitic infections eg like worms, protozoa. However, in our increasingly ‘clean’ society where we’ve pretty much eradicated worms and the like from our system, scientists believe that we’ve therefore rendered that part of the immune system ‘unemployed’ and in so doing it’s started to pick out other protein elements to ‘attack’. Children living in rural communities have a much lower incidence of food and dust allergies – living in less ‘hygienic’ environments seem to be ‘good’. Whilst it’s not as simple as that, it is a likely explanation as to why children and adults living in urban city environments seem more likely to be allergic to something in some form or another. The hypothesis is that if you give the immune system something else to worry about (ie worms, bacteria, protozoa), then it’s less likely to pick on something like a food item or dust mites instead.

Allergy symptoms

Allergy symptoms can be seasonal – if you’re allergic to grass pollens then the symptoms will appear to subside in the cooler months only to be full blown unbearable in the warmer months.

• Sneezing and runny nose
• Runny and itching eyes
• Wheezing, chest tightness and difficulty breathing (asthma type reaction)
• Headaches
• Skin rash, hives, welts (urticaria)
• Swelling
• Difficulty swallowing
• Feeling faint
• Sneezing
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Allergy symptoms vary depending on the type of allergic reaction it is – food allergies would result in the vomiting, diarrhea (not always but it is common) which can extend to full blown anaphylactic reactions where the body pretty much shuts down (severe drop in blood pressure), difficulty breathing as the throat swells so much that you can’t breathe, wheezing. Adrenaline is usually administered in these instances and the patient is rushed to hospital.

See other medical symptoms.

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To what extent would you go to prove a point? Well, Nobel Prize winners in Medicine for 2005 Barry Marshall and Robbin Warren drank a concoction of bacteria causing stomach ulcers to prove to the scientific world that it was indeed a bacteria called Helicobacter which caused stomach ulcers and not the level of stress that you had in your life which resulted in it. And as if to have set a trend in live human testing, Dr Speers and his colleague did the same with hookworms. They wanted to see how the body reacted to an hookworm infection and so they placed hookworms on their skin – which then migrated into the lungs and then into their stomach – they also swallowed a little pill camera to monitor the worm’s activity and the body’s responses to the hookworm. What they discovered was that hookworms actually results in an allergic reaction in the body which is similar to that of asthma and other allergic conditions. All this in their pursuit of a better understanding of Crohn’s disease. In the meantime however, whilst a simple pill would’ve eradicated the hookworm from their system, the 2 doctors have reportedly said that they’ve grown rather fond of their parasites and have opted to ‘keep’ them – what some people will do for their science and to prove a point will never cease to amaze me…