| 09/01/2007 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| Study says milk in tea ruins health benefits |
| Studies have shown that drinking black tea is good for the heart and helps the arteries to expand, so improving the body's blood flow. But a study published in the European Heart Journal has indicated that the benefits diminish when milk is added. A team of German researchers compared the effects on arteries of drinking black tea, tea with skimmed milk and plain, hot water. It was found that caseins - proteins in milk - blocked the powerful effects of catechins, flavenoids in tea that help to protect the arteries and keep cardiovascular disease at bay. The arterial function of the 16 female participants was measured two hours after drinking, and was shown to have been improved by drinking black tea - but adding milk completely blunted the effect. Cardiology professor Dr Verena Stangl, of the Charite Hospital in Berlin, declared that the findings could also have implications for cancer, against which tea has also been shown to be protective. |
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| 09/01/2007 |
| Daily Mail |
| By: Presswatch |
| Sunshine drug brings hope for prostate cancer |
| Trial findings have indicated that a new vitamin D drug treatment could revolutionise the treatment of prostate cancer and prolong the lives of thousands of patients with the disease. Clinical tests on Asentar - a concentrated form of vitamin D - in combination with chemotherapy gave patients with advanced prostate cancer nine months of extra life (or 49 per cent), and cut the level of adverse effects of chemotherapy by one third. The rate of thrombotic side-effects triggered by chemotherapy was reduced by 34 per cent. The trial was run by Dr Howard Scher, head of genitourinary oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who has now indicated that a follow-up trial involved 900 patients must be conducted to confirm the findings. |
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| 09/01/2007 |
| Daily Mail |
| By: Presswatch |
| Scan that can show you're drinking too much |
| A new five-minute scan has been developed that can warn drinkers whether they are in serious danger of developing liver disease. The new machine - the Fibroscan - is in use at the London Clinic and employs technology similar to ultrasound to assess the degree of liver damage in a patient. Working on the principle that sound waves travel more slowly through soft, healthy liver tissue than a hardened, damaged liver, the scan is able to identify any changes present in the liver within a few minutes. Professor Roger Williams, who leads the London Clinic's liver unit, is enthusiastic about the capabilities of the device, asserting that "the scanner can give... important information" before any biopsy of liver cells is taken. |
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| 09/01/2007 |
| Financial Times |
| By: Presswatch |
| Bias feared in nutrition research |
| More independent funding of nutrition research is being urged by a group of medical specialists, following yesterday's authoritative finding that industry-backed scientific studies of soft drinks strongly reflect the interests of their sponsors. In a study published in a United States-based online medical journal, researchers showed that academic articles about soft drinks, juice and milk funded by industry were four to eight times more likely to be favourable to the financial interests of their sponsors than those without industry funding. |
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| 09/01/2007 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS watchdog rules out Alzheimer's U-turn |
| The Alzheimer's Society is to challenge a ruling which is denying thousands of patients access to vital drugs on the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) announced in November that it was withdrawing a range of drugs offered free to people suffering from the early and late stages of dementia. The head of Nice has defended the recent Alzheimer's drug ruling as the legal fight begins. He vowed to remain rational amid 'corrosive criticism'. |
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| 09/01/2007 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS and Health Sector News |
| An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that a study has indicated that staff shortages and financial cuts are putting midwives on the Health Service under huge pressure. Elsewhere, it has been suggested that heart patients were put at "serious risk" when left in the care of inexperienced doctors at night, according to a study at a London hospital. |
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