The Health Blog

Garlic is hated because of its smell but did you know that it has a lot of health benefits?

Eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

The power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer, say the study authors. Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart, according to other experts. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack. NY Times

We already have known some proven benefits of coffee. An additional benefit was found out in a recent report.

Participants reported their coffee-drinking habits. The data show that coffee drinkers were 41% less likely to have been diagnosed with liver cancer than people who don’t drink coffee.

For every daily cup of coffee people drank, their odds of having been diagnosed with liver cancer dropped by 23%, compared with people who never drink coffee.

People who drank a lot of coffee were 55% less likely to have been diagnosed with liver cancer than those who didn’t drink any coffee.

Cancer experts have identified a set of health problems that may be symptoms of ovarian cancer, and they are urging women who have the symptoms for more than a few weeks to see their doctors.

These symptoms, which are found more common in women, include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and feeling a frequent or urgent need to urinate A woman who has any of those problems nearly every day for more than two or three weeks is advised to see a gynecologist, especially if the symptoms are new and quite different from her usual state of health.

Most skin cancers are preventable. To protect yourself:

1. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Because the sun’s rays are strongest during this period, try to schedule outdoor activities for other times of the day, even in winter or when the sky is cloudy. You absorb UV radiation year-round, and clouds offer little protection from damaging rays. Remember, sunburns and suntans cause skin damage that can increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Sun exposure accumulated over time also may cause skin cancer.

2. Wear sunscreen year-round. Sunscreens don’t filter out all harmful UV radiation, especially the radiation that can lead to melanoma. But they play a major role in an overall sun protection program. Be sure to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen, which means the product blocks both UVA and UVB rays. Select sunscreen products with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Use a generous amount of sunscreen on all exposed skin, including your lips, the tips of your ears, and the backs of your hands and neck.

We all have at least some moles on our skin. But many of us might not know which moles are normal, and which could be signs of trouble.

How can you spot a suspicious mole? Experts from the Ohio State University Medical Center say, just remember your “ABCDE”.

A - stands for Asymmetry. The moles that tend to be malignant are irregular in shape. The ones that are benign are rounded.

B - stands for border. If the mole has a rough edge, get it checked.

C - is color. Moles with more than one color could spell trouble.

D - stands for diameter. Moles larger than a pencil eraser should be checked.

Many people tend to abuse multivitamins to stay in shape and to boost their resistance. But little do they know that taking too much vitamins could bring their health at risk. A study by the National Cancer Institute found out that taking too many multivitamin supplements could increase the risk of prostate cancer.

The researchers found no association between multivitamin use and the risk of localized prostate cancer. But taking a multivitamin more than seven times a week was associated with a 30% increased risk of advanced prostate cancer and a doubling of the risk of death from the disease.

Regular multivitamin use (one to six times a week) did not appear to increase cancer risk, and excessive vitamin use was not associated with an increased risk of early, or localized, prostate cancer.

A study published in the New England Journal found out that the same virus that causes cervical cancer, which is the human papillomavirus or HPV, increases the risk of throat cancer for both men and women engaging in oral sex.

The study involved 100 patients with throat cancer and 200 without it, found that those infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV) were 32 times as likely to develop one form of oral cancer than those free of the virus. This makes it clear that oral HPV infection is a risk factor for throat cancer. The research suggests that unprotected oral sex is a major reason people are contracting throat cancer — not just smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, as previously believed.

Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips.

Here’s what you should look for:

* breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color.

* breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling.

If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor’s attention:
Words on this page Words on this Page

* nipple discharge

* dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin.

* a nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out).

* redness, soreness, rash, or swelling.

Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3: While you’re at the mirror, gently squeeze each nipple between your finger and thumb and check for nipple discharge (this could be a milky or yellow fluid or blood).

The development of HPV Vaccine is one of revolutionary contributions to cervical cancer treatment. HPV or Human papillomavirus is considered the causative agent for cervical cancer.

The FDA or Food and Drug Administration recently licensed the vaccine Gardasil® which is said to protect against four HPV types, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

Who should get the vaccine?
The HPV vaccine is recommended for 11-12 year-old girls, and can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also recommended for 13-26 year-old girls/women who have not yet received or completed the vaccine series.

“Cutting back on saturated fats can lower your disease risk” Forbes.com reports.

Eating foods that contain high levels of saturated fats raises your cholesterol and your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.

Cooking certain meats at high temperatures may produce chemicals that are experimental animal carcinogens and are believed to be potential human carcinogens. Other studies have shown that high intakes of well-done, fried or barbecued meats may increase the risk of developing colorectal and potentially breast cancer.

Health Tips:

1. Because the body can’t store protein, you’ll eliminate it through urine if you eat more than you need, putting an extra strain on your kidneys to metabolize it. Experts recommend limiting meat to 3 to 4 ounce servings.

2. Avoid eating burnt meat because of their carcinogenic content.

“Daily Aspirin may reduce cancer risk, bBut the high dose needed brings its own dangers, experts warn”, says an article from HealthDay News.

A daily aspirin may lower the odds of colon, prostate and breast cancer for people at high risk for those malignancies, researchers at the American Cancer Society report.

The researchers found that taking daily aspirin for at least five years was linked with about a 15 percent relative reduction in overall cancer risk. This decrease did not reach statistical significance in women, however.

In addition, aspirin was associated with a 20 percent reduction in the risk of prostate cancer and a 30 percent reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer in both men and women, compared with people who didn’t take the medicine, Jacobs’s team found.

Aspirin had no effect on risk of lung cancer, bladder cancer, melanoma, leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, and kidney cancer, the researchers noted. Also, aspirin use for less than five years did not lower the risk for cancer.