Consuming olive oil may prevent strokes

If you, or someone you know, is 65 or older, researchers are now suggesting the inclusion of more olive oil in your diet to help prevent stroke.

In a study by the University of Bordeaux of 7,625 people aged 65 and older, those who regularly used olive for cooking and as a dressing had a 41 percent lower risk of stroke compared with those who never consumed olive oil.

“Our research suggests that a new set of dietary recommendations should be issued to prevent stroke in people 65 and older,” said study author Cécilia Samieri, PhD, with the University of Bordeaux and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Bordeaux, France. “Stroke is so common in older people and olive oil would be an inexpensive and easy way to help prevent it.”

Olive oil is associated with other proven health benefits as well, such as protective effects against diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

Rate of carbon release 10 times faster than previous period of rapid global warming

Based on core samples from 55.9 million years ago, when the earth last experienced a rapid period of global warming, our current rate of carbon release is nearly 10 times as fast. According to geologists, rate matters and this current rapid change may not allow sufficient time for the biological environment to adjust.

The past warming period, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), experienced a rapid increase in global temperatures over a time span of 20,000 years. Based on models developed at Penn State University, the outcome was a warming of from 9 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit and an acidification event in the oceans.

“Rather than the 20,000 years of the PETM which is long enough for ecological systems to adapt, carbon is now being released into the atmosphere at a rate 10 times faster,” said Lee R. Kump, professor of geosciences at Penn State. “It is possible that this is faster than ecosystems can adapt.”

Hypnosis helps the healing process after surgery

In Belgium, anesthesiologists who used a combination of hypnosis and local anesthesia, vs. only general anesthesia, found that patients’ opioid drug use was greatly diminished, as well as time spent in the recovery room and the length of their hospital stay.

The hypnosis was performed on breast cancer and thyroid patients. ”In all of these procedures local anaesthesia is feasible but not, on its own, sufficient to ensure patient comfort,” says Professor Roelants from the Department of Anaesthesiology at the Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, UCL, Brussels, Belgium.

“In addition to reducing drug use and hospital stay time, being able to avoid general anaesthesia in breast cancer surgery is important because we know that local anaesthesia can block the body’s stress response to surgery and could therefore reduce the possible spread of metastases,” said Professor Roelants.

The anesthesiologists use eye fixation, progressive muscle relaxation, or the retrieval of a pleasant memory to focus a patient’s attention on one particular point, enabling a modified state of consciousness, with a different perception of the world.

“There is still a lot of debate around the exact mechanism that allows hypnosis to reduce pain perception,” said Professor Roelants,” but what it absolutely clear is that it does so. The result is that one third of thyroidectomies and a quarter of all breast cancer surgery carried out at the UCL hospital are performed under local anaesthetic with the patient under hypnosis.”

The anesthesiologists have confirmed that, regardless of sex or age, and if the patient is motivated, ready to co-operate, and trusts the doctors, hypnosis will work. It can also be applied to surgical patients who undergo carotid artery surgery, inguinal hernia, knee arthroscopy, gynaecological surgery, ophthalmology, ear nose and throat, plastic surgery and egg retrieval for fertility treatment.

The research findings were presented June 12, 2011 at the European Anaesthesiology Congress in Amsterdam.

“Self-talk” works to improves one’s performance

The link between one’s thoughts and improving performance, specifically in sports, is thought to be activated by the use of “self-talk”  - a psychic strategy that triggers a desired behavior through the use of self-addressed cues – words and phrases - mostly by focusing attention and psyching-up.

“We know this strategy works, and it works in sports,” says sports psychologist Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis. But Hatzigeorgiadis and fellow researchers wanted to know more – specifically, what makes it work better, and in what circumstances.

Researchers at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Thessaly found that different self-talk cues work differently in different situations.

For tasks requiring fine skills or for improving technique “instructional self-talk,” such as a technical instruction (“elbow-up” which Hatzigeorgiadis coaches beginner freestyle swimmers to say) is more effective than “motivational self-talk” (e.g., “give it all”), which seems to be more effective in tasks requiring strength or endurance, boosting confidence and psyching-up for competition.

Also, probably because it improves concentration, self-talk has a greater effect on tasks involving fine skills (such as sinking a golf ball) rather than gross skills (e.g., cycling). The researchers also found that self-talk is more effective for learning new tasks rather than well-learned tasks, because it is easier to improve at the early steps of learning.

The main goals behind self-talk—like other techniques such as visualization to “rehearse” a performance or meditation to improve focus and relaxation—are twofold, says Hatzigeorgiadis: “to enhance your potential; and to perform during competition in terms of your ability and not less.”

Apples linked with keeping muscles strong into old age

A component of apple peels just might keep the doctor away. Ursolic acid, a natural compound found in the peel, is believed to correct gene signatures that lead to muscle atrophy, according to findings from the University of Iowa.

When ursolic acid was added to the food of normal mice for a period of weeks, their muscles grew. The animals also became leaner and had lower blood levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

“Muscle wasting is a frequent companion of illness and aging,” said Christopher Adams of The University of Iowa, Iowa City. “It prolongs hospitalization, delays recoveries and in some cases prevents people from going back home. It isn’t well understood and there is no medicine for it.”

It has not been determined whether the findings in mice will happen the same effect in human patients, Adams says, but his goal now is to “figure out if this can help people.” If so, the next step is determining how much needs to be consumed to have the same health benefits.

New discovery of green tea’s health benefits

One of green tea’s beneficial compounds has been found to increase the number of “regulatory T cells” that play a key role in immune function and suppression of autoimmune disease.

Green tea is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, boost immunity, and prevent cancer. Researchers who are currently studying its healing powers now believe this newly discovered mechanism — caused by the compound in green tea, a polyphenol called EGCG — is responsible for much of the tea leaves’ health benefits. While pharmaceutical drugs may provide some of the same benefits, the use of a natural substance such as green tea avoids toxicity issues associated with synthetic chemicals.

“This appears to be a natural, plant-derived compound that can affect the number of regulatory T cells, and in the process improve immune function,” said Emily Ho, a Linus Pauling Institute principal investigator and associate professor in the Oregon State University Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences.

“When fully understood, this could provide an easy and safe way to help control autoimmune problems and address various diseases,” Ho said.

Project Kaisei is on a mission to provide solutions to the Plastic Vortex

I’ve written before about Project Kaisei, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the plastic debris floating in the world’s oceans. They’re organizing their next big expedition to the Plastic Vortex, which will involve testing a new solution developed by Ed Kosior, a renowned plastics expert, for treating ocean-based plastic waste. This system uses low heat, no oxygen, and allows for a wide variety of plastic waste to be processed into diesel fuel. It is feasible that this equipment can be used from a boat while at sea, but actual deployment at sea will depend on the volume of debris that will be estimated to be collected.

What is the Plastic Vortex?

Every year over 260 million tons of plastic are produced, much of it for one-time use and less than 5 percent of the world’s plastics are recycled. In many cases, plastic waste that is not incinerated or land-filled makes its way to the oceans. This floating plastic is a danger to marine life, and subsequently human life, because it may be entering our food chain (studies on this issue will be undertaken by the Project Kaisei Science Team and other researchers). One particular vast area of plastic waste is called the “Plastic Vortex,” or what is sometimes referred to as the “garbage patch,” and is within an area that is technically referred to as the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone.

Project Kaisei is currently holding a fund-raiser for this new venture. You can check out the details of this project on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/projectkaisei?sk=app_159415870778798. But hurry – there’s only four days left to go on their campaign.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans show vast improvement in PTSD symptoms using Transcendental Meditation

Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, brought about by moderate to heavy moderate combat, experienced up to 50 percent reduction of their symptoms after just eight weeks of participating in a transcendental meditation program.

The five soldiers in the study, aged 25 to 40 years, experienced marked relief from stress and depression, and saw improvement in their relationships and quality of life.

“Even though the number of veterans in this study was small, the results were very impressive,” said Norman Rosenthal, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and the study’s senior researcher. “These young men were in extreme distress as a direct result of trauma suffered during combat, and the simple and effortless Transcendental Meditation technique literally transformed their lives.”

Rosenthal hypothesizes that Transcendental Meditation helps people with PTSD because regular practice produces long-term changes in sympathetic nervous system activity, as evidenced by decreased blood pressure, and lower reactivity to stress. “Transcendental Meditation quiets down the nervous system, and slows down the ‘fight-or-flight’ response,” he said. People with PTSD show overactive fight-or-flight responses, making them excellent candidates for Transcendental Meditation.

Rosenthal points out that there is an urgent need to find effective and cost-effective treatments for veterans with combat-related PTSD. “The condition is common, affecting an estimated one in seven deployed soldiers and Marines, most of whom do not get adequate treatment. So far, only one treatment—simulation exposure to battleground scenes—has been deemed effective, but it requires specialized software and hardware, trained personnel and is labor intensive.”

The details of the pilot study were published in the June 2011 issue of Military Medicine (Volume 176, Number 6).

Canned foods have been found to have high levels of BPA

The U.S. FDA recently found 71 out of 78 canned foods tested were contaminated with bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA. One can of green beans contained as much as 730 parts per billion of the synthetic hormone, which is usually found as a component in epoxy can linings. That level of concentration has been associated in laboratory studies with permanent toxicity. In the FDA testing, green beans, peas, chili and refried beans were the food products that contained the highest contamination levels.

The “safe” exposure level established by EPA, at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day (50 ug/kg/d), is considered up to 25 times higher than harmful levels. Establishing safe public levels continues to be concern, as BPA is known to cause harmful effects, specifically disrupting the body’s hormone system, since it mimics estrogen – even at low doses.

“Federal health agencies warn parents to limit their children’s BPA exposures,” Environmental Working Group’s senior analyst Sonya Lunder, M.P.H., said. “But with the chemical found in canned food, store receipts and even umbilical cord blood, we think that ‘buyer beware’ isn’t good health policy. Systematic protections for children are the only solution.” EWG has forcefully advocated for health protective safety standards to limit BPA exposures for infants and children.

Hundreds of animal and human studies have linked BPA to abnormal reproductive system development, diminished intellectual capacity, behavioral problems, reproductive system cancer, obesity, diabetes, early puberty, resistance to chemotherapy, asthma, cardiovascular system problems and other chronic disorders. Worker studies have shown lower sperm counts and other ailments of the male reproductive system.

Prescription drugs now average 70 side effects

The side effects shown on the list that accompanies prescription drugs now averages 70 reactions per drug, posing an overwhelming problem for physicians as they try to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing for patients. The more commonly prescribed drugs average around 100 side effects – one drug even listed 525 possible reactions.

A new study of drug labels from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine demonstrates the complexity of drug labels. The lead author, Jon Duke, M.D., Regenstrief Institute investigator and assistant professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine, said that much of the labeling has less to do with true toxicity than with protecting manufacturers from potential lawsuits.

The greatest number of side effects was found in antidepressants, antiviral medications and newer treatments for restless legs syndrome and Parkinson’s disease. In general, medications typically used by psychiatrists and neurologists had the most complex labels, while drugs used by dermatologists and ophthalmologists had the least.