News, January 15, 2010

Green Tea May Reduce Risk of Lung Cancer

Taiwanese researchers have discovered that green tea may reduce the risk of lung cancer in both smokers and non-smokers. A study presented this week at conference jointly sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer compared the smoking and green tea consumption habits of 170 lung cancer patients and 340 healthy patients. The results showed that among smokers and non-smokers, those who did not drink green tea were over five times more likely to have cancer than those who drank at least one cup a day. Smokers who did not drink green tea were nearly 13 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than those who did.

In an AACR press release, lead researcher I-Hsin Lin stated that the study "may represent a clue that in the case of lung cancer, smoking-induced carcinogenesis could be modulated by green tea consumption and the growth factor environment.” Nevertheless, drinking green tea can only modulate the negative effects of smoking, and will not reverse them. The best thing you can do to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and in Taiwan. Learn more about this deadly - and often preventable – form of cancer.

Judge Orders FDA to Stop Blocking Import of E-Ciggs

This week, Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court in Washington issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought against the FDA. The injunction effectively lifted an import ban that the federal regulator had placed on "e-cigarettes" from China. Judge Leon agreed with the distributors who brought the suit, arguing that e-cigarettes are not meant to be medical devices to help smokers quit, but rather are a safer substitute that gives users the nicotine they crave but with less negative side effects than traditional cigarettes. In a statement made to the FDA website, the agency reiterated its growing concern regarding the current lack of regulation of e-cigarettes. "The public health issues surrounding electronic cigarettes are of serious concern to the F.D.A. The agency is reviewing Judge Leon’s opinion and will decide the appropriate action to take.”

Read our smoking cessation expert, Dr. Jonathan Gould's take on e-cigarettes at his blog, Freedom From Smoking.


Raising Kids Lowers Blood Pressure

New research out of Brigham Young University suggests that raising children can lower your blood pressure, and more so in women than in men. This, of course, flies in the face of the conventional wisdom of parenthood, popularly thought of as a full-time job of chasing, worrying about, disciplining, and caring for active and often unruly kids. But the study’s author, BYU psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad, found that the existential side of parenting wins in the end. “While caring for children may include daily hassles, deriving a sense of meaning and purpose from life’s stress has been shown to be associated with better health outcomes,” Holt-Lunstad said in a news release.

The study followed 198 adults – parents and non-parents – for 24 hours. Each person wore a monitoring device that recorded BP levels at random intervals, even while they were sleeping. The study accounted for other factors known to influence BP – age, body mass, gender, exercise, employment and smoking – and found that parents scored 4.5 lower on systolic BP (top number) and 3 points lower on diastolic BP (bottom number) than non-parents. The differences were greater for mothers – 12 points and 7 points lower, respectively, than non-mothers. This does not meant that more kids equals lower pressure, Holt-Lunstad said. The study simply connects parenthood, in general, to lower BP.

Find out how you can lower your blood pressure today.