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Holy guacamole! An avocado a day may keep the doctor away It is believed that eating avocados may provide many important health benefits, and now you can add lowering your cholesterol levels to the list. A new study has found that individuals on a moderate-fat diet who ate an avocado every day had lower bad cholesterol (LDL ) levels than those on a similar diet without an avocado a day or on a lower-fat diet. The study, which was just published in the Journal of the American Heart Association,...
Yoga may help boost brain function in older adults A simple yoga program may be good for the brain in unexpected ways. University of Illinois researchers are now reporting that practicing hatha yoga three times a week for eight weeks may help improve sedentary older adults’ performance on cognitive tasks that are relevant to everyday life. The findings involved 108 adults between the ages of 55 and 79 years of age. Among the 108 adults, 61 attended hatha yoga classes. The others met for the s...
Attitudes about marijuana and its use are changing nationwide. Alaska, along with Washington, Colorado and Oregon, has lifted the prohibition on its use. The voter-approved changes in each state are expected to bring in millions of dollars through taxes. However, the real windfall may be for Alaska residents and others with chronic health problems. The active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is now showing promise for treating chronic pain conditions, nerve pain and nausea...
Breast cancer vaccine showing promise The New Year is ushering in new hope for women who have advanced breast cancer. Researchers are now reporting success with a novel breast cancer vaccine that appears to be safe and effective for helping women with metastatic breast cancer. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the vaccine specifically primes the patients’ immune systems to attack tumor cells and help slow the cancer’s progression. The vaccine causes the body’s immune system to hone in on...
Healthy Christmas party choices This Christmas season the nutritionists say think red wine, dark chocolate and berries for heart health. New studies show you need to watch for the calorie counts and added sugars but these foods in particular may help fight heart disease and protect the brain. Berries, including blueberries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries are a good source of beta carotene and lutein, polyphenols, vitamin C, folate, potassium and fiber. Red wine contains resveratrol,...
Prehabilitation may benefit hip and knee replacement patients All hip and knee replacement patients have physical therapy after their surgery. However, a new study is suggesting that prehabilitation may be highly beneficial to some patients. Researchers found prehabilitation could significantly diminish the need for postoperative care. In some cases, postoperative care was cut by nearly 30 percent, resulting in a significant cost savings. The study included more than 4,700 patients and it found...
Higher dose flu vaccine may benefit older adults For older adults, it may be better to go with the high dose when it comes to the flu vaccine this year. A new study has found that the high dose influenza vaccine is 24 percent more effective than the standard dose vaccine in protecting adults 65 and older against influenza illness and its complications. The Fluzone high dose vaccine is an inactivated influenza vaccine that contains four times the amount of antigen in the standard dose Fluzone...
Stroke rates decreasing in older adults A new analysis has found that there has been a 40 percent decrease in the incidence of stroke in adults over the age of 65. The decline is much greater than researchers had expected and the decline occurred in both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. In addition, deaths due to strokes are also steadily declining in older adults. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 795,000 strokes occurring each year. In the...
Brain implants may help restore memory loss Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are severely lacking. Despite more than three decades of intense research and clinical trials, the only approved agents simply slow the progression of the disease. No agents have been able to reverse the damage caused by the disease. Now, researchers are taking a completely different approach. They are developing an implantable neural device to restore memory. Brain experts at the Lawrence Livermore National L...
Breath test may be important new tool against lung cancer Researchers have now come up with a new breath test that can diagnose patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as lung cancer. In addition, this new technology can help can define the stage of any cancer present and potentially help guide the appropriate therapy. “This could totally revolutionize lung cancer screening and diagnosis. The perspective here is the development of a non-traumatic, easy, cheap a...
A vibrating capsule may help combat chronic constipation Researchers in Israel are now reporting success with a vibrating capsule for constipation. You simply swallow it and it helps get your bowels moving. In a new study, the researchers found that the vibrating capsule helped nearly double the weekly bowel movements of patients suffering from chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) and constipation predominant irritable bowel syndrome (C-IBS). “Despite the widespread use of medication to treat c...
Color-coded tags may signal food’s freshness Scientists have now come up with a color-coded smart tag that can tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour. This technology could also tell you if a can of green beans has spoiled, all without opening the containers. “This tag, which has a gel-like consistency, is really inexpensive and safe, and can be widely programmed to mimic almost all ambient-temperature deterioration processes in foods,” said lead researcher Chao Zhang, who i...
Color-coded tags may signal food’s freshness Scientists have now come up with a color-coded smart tag that can tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour. This technology could also tell you if a can of green beans has spoiled, all without opening the containers. “This tag, which has a gel-like consistency, is really inexpensive and safe, and can be widely programmed to mimic almost all ambient-temperature deterioration processes in foods,” said lead researcher Chao Zhang, who i...
The truth about spring allergies Every year we hear about how it may be the worse allergy season in years. But how true is it and are allergies a big problem than ever before? It turns out that several factors determine the severity of allergy season, such as weather patterns. While allergies are on the rise, affecting more and more Americans every year, each spring isn’t necessarily worse than the last, according to allergist Dr. Michael Foggs, who is the president of the American College of A...
Just how safe are e-cigarettes? There is considerable debate right now about whether e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking or a gateway from smoking. For many adults age 50 and older, e-cigarettes may be a great way to transition off smoking. Ideally, if millions of people start using e-cigarettes as an aid to quit there could be a huge public health benefit. However, some health experts question whether e-cigarettes are just “an add-on” for chronic smokers and may be creating new problems. Cur...
Tomatoes potent in fighting breast cancer Eating a diet rich in tomato and tomato products may help protect against breast cancer. A new study by researchers in Ohio has found that eating a diet high in tomatoes had a positive effect on hormone levels that play a role in regulating fat and sugar metabolism. The researchers conducted a study with older women who were at high risk for breast cancer. “The advantages of eating plenty of tomatoes and tomato-based products, even for a short period, w...
Lowering your risk for dementia A good New Year’s resolution may be to simply exercise more and make sure you do not have high blood pressure. Just taking those two simple steps may significantly help lower your risk for developing dementia. It’s rare to hear good news about dementia. But that’s what a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article is now reporting. The article discusses several recent studies that show dementia rates in older adults are on the decline. It is believed to be...
Cranberries and chronic infections Go ahead and have an extra helping of cranberries over this holiday season. The latest studies show that cranberries pack a major nutritional punch and may help prevent chronic infections. In addition, researchers are now proposing the use of cranberry derivatives for preventing bacterial colonization in medical devices such as catheters. Cranberries are among one of the healthiest fruits and their history can be traced back to Native Americans who used to eat...
Adding more pumpkin to your diet may have beneficial effects This month a new crop of seasonal nutrient-dense fruit and vegetable “superfoods” will be harvested. Superfoods increase our overall wellness and nutrition, and help support a healthy lifestyle. Nutritionists say November is a good time to try new recipes with pumpkins, cranberries and pomegranates. “Superfoods are brimming with nutrients and antioxidants,” said Kari Kooi, who is a registered dietician at Houston Methodist Hospita...
All older adults are encouraged to get flu vaccine For the first time there will be a vaccine which protects against four strains of the flu virus. Until now, flu vaccines only have protected against three forms of the virus. Scientists each year choose what they believe will be the three most common forms of the flu to spread during the winter months and they incorporate them into the annual vaccine. This year’s new vaccine containing four varieties has those three flu forms and an additional v...
Older adults are remaining healthier later in life Life expectancy has increased significantly over the past two decades in the United States and more Americans than ever before are living well into their eighth and ninth decades of life. Now, a new study is showing that Americans are increasingly healthier later in life. “With the exception of the year or two just before death, people are healthier than they used to be,” said study investigator David Cutler, who is with Harvard University, Bos...
Bionic eye helping patients with retinitis pigmentosa After more than two decades of field work, the first bionic eye for the blind is finally available. It is call the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”) and is used to treat patients with late stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The system involves implanting a small electronic device in and around the eye. It also uses a tiny video camera attached to a pair of glasses and a video processing unit that is worn or carried by the per...
Phone technology may play dramatic new role in health care In the next 12 months, doctors will be able to make house calls where they diagnose and treat the patients on the spot using their phones. Researchers and physicians in the field are about to start running on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones. University of Illinois researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone’s built-in camera and p...
Detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages Australian scientists say they now are much closer to developing a screening test for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The investigators have identified blood-based biological markers that are associated with the build-up of amyloid beta, a toxic protein in the brain. This plaque build-up develops years before symptoms appear and irreversible brain damage has occurred. “Early detection is critical, giving those at risk a much bette...
Wearing a contact lens at night may help restore age-related loss of near vision It may be possible to get rid of your reading glasses. Many older adults have age-related declines in near vision (presbyopia) requiring bifocals or reading glasses. Now, a newly emerging technique called hyperopic orthokeratology (OK) may provide an alternative for restoring near vision without the need for glasses. Researchers have just completed a small study showing that wearing OK contact lenses overnight can...
