Pharmacology
A team of researchers suggest that increased coffee intake may reduce fatty liver in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
And here you thought it was just delicious.
Worldwide, 70 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes and obesity have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the major cause of fatty liver not due to excessive alcohol consumption. It is estimated that 30 percent of adults in the United States have this condition, and the authors in Singapore say its prevalence is rising there.
There are no effective treatments for
non-alcoholic fatty liver diseas
except…
Two laboratory studies found that the flavonoids apigenin and luteolin, found in celery, artichokes and herbs like Mexican oregano, kills human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro by inhibiting an important enzyme.
Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive cancer, and there are few early symptoms, meaning that the disease is often not found before it has spread. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with a five-year survival rate of only 6 percent. Ultimately the goal is to develop a cure, but prolonging the lives of patients would be a significant development. The…
Finasteride, a generic drug used by physicians to treat enlarged prostate and male pattern baldness, was found to significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer. During the trial of 19,000 men, a slightly higher percentage of those on finasteride developed high-grade cancer than those taking a placebo. This difference shrank in the follow-up analysis, which caused concern and debate in the medical community, and doctors backed away from prescribing the drug.
Multiple studies prompted by this concern ultimately concluded finasteride, by shrinking the prostate and making the PSA test work…
An investigational malaria vaccine developed by scientists at Sanaria Inc. and known as PfSPZ Vaccine has been found to be safe, to generate an immune system response, and to offer protection against malaria infection in healthy adults, according to the results of an early-stage clinical trial.
Malaria is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. After the bite occurs, infectious malaria parasites in the immature, sporozoite stage of their life cycle first travel to the liver, where they multiply, and then spread through the bloodstream, at which time symptoms develop.
The…
Caffeine drinks are in some kind of arms race and as caffeine levels escalate, so do reports of caffeine overdose. It's not just those terrible-tasting energy drinks, it's also in snacks, candy, and even chewing gum.
EnergyFiend.com has tracked caffeine levels for the past 8 years and found that the number of caffeinated products does not appear to be slowing down. According to editor Ted Kallmyer, “We’re now tracking over 1,000 items, and among those are some products with very high levels of caffeine. They are clearly targeted to the teen market.”
Teens? Then caffeine may be the next…
Antioxidants have been hyped by marketing and mainstream media claims as cure-alls for almost anything, but a systematic review has likely eliminated one - there is no quality evidence that antioxidant supplements help to increase a woman's chances of having a baby and information is still too limited to know if it has potential harms.
The paper says around 25% of couples planning a baby may have 'difficulty' conceiving. Women undergoing fertility treatment often take dietary supplements, including antioxidants, to try to increase their chances of becoming pregnant. Antioxidant…
Since the United States lacks regulatory guidelines or a standardized risk assessment for herbal supplement use, it falls on pediatricians to try and recognize what natural pharmaceuticals could be impacting the health of mothers and children during breastfeeding.
Although there is scant scientific evidence to support the efficacy or safety of herbal supplements, it is a common practice both nationally and internationally. Holistic and complementary medicine are big business, even the National Institutes of Health spends $120 million per year of taxpayer money without being able to…
There aren't many areas where men and women benefit equally but coffee has always been about bringing people together. Do you think Newton would have done his great work without coffee? No, he would have starved long before Principia. The man ate every meal in a coffee house.
A new review in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry will get heads nodding among coffee acolytes for finding that drinking lots of coffee daily reduces the risk of suicide in men and women by about 50%. The authors reviewed data from three U.S. studies and found that the risk of suicide for adults who drank…
Regular marijuana use in adolescence may permanently impair brain function, cognition and increase the risk of developing serious psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, according to a recent study in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Lawmakers in Maryland and elsewhere are contemplating legalizing the drug and the study's senior author Asaf Keller, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues have weighed in. "Over the past 20 years, there has been a major controversy about the long-term effects of marijuana, with some evidence…
Resveratrol, a natural antioxidant compound found in red grapes and other plants, has received widespread attention for being a possible anti-aging compound and is now widely available as a dietary supplement; many claims have been made about its role in explaining the cardiovascular health benefits of red wine, and other foods.
New research in The Journal of Physiology instead suggests that eating a diet rich in antioxidants may actually block or counteract many of the health benefits of exercise, including reduced blood pressure and cholesterol. This is in contrast to studies in animals…