Anti-Cancer Benefits of Raw Vegetables
July 2008 | Filed under General Interest
According to a recent study, eating as little as three small servings of raw cruciferous vegetables per month, such as broccoli and cabbage, has been found to decrease the risk of developing bladder cancer by 36 percent.
In this study, researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, The Roswell Park researchers collected dietary data from 275 hospital-based bladder cancer patients and 825 cancer-free people, and found that those who consumed the highest consumption of raw cruciferous vegetables was associated with a 36 per cent reduction in bladder cancer risk.
Furthermore, stronger protective effects were observed among current and heavy smokers with an intake of three or more servings of raw cruciferous vegetables per month associated with a 54 and 40 per cent reduction, respectively.
On the other hand, no benefits were observed when the researchers considered the combined raw and cooked cruciferous vegetable intake.
Cooking can substantially reduce or destroy isothiocyanates, and could account for study inconsistencies.
Sources:
Nutraingredients
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Unknown Universal Laws That Are Kind of True
July 2008 | Filed under Irreverent Pastiche
Law of Probability: The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
Law of Variation: If you change lines, or traffic lanes, the one you were in will always move faster than the one you’re now in.
Law of Results: When you try to prove to someone that something wont work; it will.
Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Law of Public Speaking: A closed mouth gathers no feet.
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Dead Doctors Paid Millions by Medicare
July 2008 | Filed under General Interest, Health Topics
Another reason to become a Doctor: You can still make money even AFTER you’re dead!
As revealed in a new congressional investigation, Medicare has paid out 478,500 claims on health services to doctors who died before they performed such services.
And to think, farmers thought they had it made by being paid money by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to NOT grow crops.
According to this congressional report, Medicare has paid out as much as $92 million to 18,240 dead doctors. A frighteningly large percentage of those doctors (16 percent) have been dead for 10 to 15 years!
RELATED ARTICLE (from the New York Times):
“Report Links Dead Doctors to Payments by Medicare
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: July 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators said Tuesday that Medicare had paid tens of millions of dollars to suppliers improperly using identification numbers of doctors who died years ago.
The government has no reliable way to spot claims linked to dead doctors, many of whom are still listed as active Medicare providers though they died 10 or 15 years ago, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said.
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FDA: Urgent Safety Warning on Cipro
July 2008 | Filed under Health Topics
Drug safety officials Tuesday imposed the government’s most urgent safety warning on Cipro and similar antibiotics, citing evidence that they may lead to tendon ruptures, a serious injury that can leave patients incapacitated and needing extensive surgery.
The Food and Drug Administration ordered makers of flouroquinolone drugs — a potent class of antibacterials — to add a prominent “black box” warning to their products and develop new literature for patients emphasizing the risks.
Tendon ruptures are normally thought of as sports injuries, generally occurring usually among men in their mid-thirties. The link to treatment with the antibiotics is highly unusual, and scientists still don’t fully understand why it happens. However, FDA officials stressed that many of the serious injuries appear to be preventable if patients stop taking the drug at the first sign of pain or swelling in a tendon, call their doctor, and switch to another antibiotic.