Just how do the cancer cells get perfectly healthy surrounding cells to self destruct? They do this by releasing hydrogen peroxide which cause the release of free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidative damage to the healthy cell which prompt the cell to begin digesting itself, a process known as “autophagy”. This releases nutrients that eventually become food for the cancer cell.

This new theory, proposed by Michael Lisanti  of the Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA, offers a unique way to treat cancer using antioxidants which mop up free radicals. Another approach is to bolster the body’s own defense against unchecked hydrogen peroxide: catalase. This enzyme is used widely in the body to breakdown hydrogen peroxide into its harmless components: water and oxygen.

Lisanti found that treating cancer cells with catalase increased five-fold the rate of cancer cell death.

You can read more about Lisanti’s research at this link. His research was also featured in New Scientist published September 2011.

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According to research, Swain states, “When you perform a continuous exercise, you burn five calories for every liter of oxygen you consume. And running in general consumes a lot more oxygen than walking.”

What is more important however is not the total number of calories burned but rather  the  net number of calories burned. The net burn accounts for the difference between one’s resting metabolic rate, that is the amount of calories one burns at rest, and the total number that are burned with exercise.

According to a formula that appeared in the article, “How Many Calories Are You Really Burning?“,  one’s calorie burn for walking and running can be figured out using the following:

TOTAL CALORIE BURN/MILE                   NET CALORIE BURN/MILE

Running                         0.75 x your wt in lbs                                             0.63 x your wt in lbs

Walking                         0.53 x your wt in lbs                                             0.30 x your wt in lbs

Interestingly,  walking burns more calories than running at speeds of 5 miles or more/hour. Walking at these speeds is a very inefficient way of moving. Heart rate, oxygen consumption and calorie burn increase as a result. Think of it for a moment. Have you ever tried to walk at 5 miles/hr? It would be a most inelegant and extremely difficult gait to maintain – running would be easier and much more efficient!

According to the article, running burns twice as many net calories/mile than walking. Citing research done at Syracuse University, the net caloric burn of running a mile in 9:30 seconds versus walking a mile in 19 minutes is 105 calories compared with 52 calories in men. In women the number is lower because of their lower weight to start. Women burn 91 calories running vs 43 calories walking.

For more information about this research, follow this link. And then get out there and exercise.

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Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation the study found that on average, each hand had over 150 different types of bacteria with more than 4,700 different species identified on the hands of 51 undergraduate students who were involved in the study. Only about 5 of them were common among all the students sampled and there were different kinds of bacteria found between the right and left hands.

As a health care provider, what really surprised me was that hand washing did not seem to affect the diversity of bacteria that were found. Handwashing decreased the overall count of bacteria but didn’t seem to affect the diversity of bacteria that was found.

What does all this mean? Like any good study, it raises more questions than it answers. Why do women have more bacterial diversity than men? What is the role of hormones, pH, topical creams/lotions, sweat glands etc on the diversity of bacteria found between genders? Why does the bacterial type differ depending on dominant vs non-dominat hand? What protective benefits do we get from certain bacteria? What is the safe level of bacteria? Can we predict the health of an individual given the types and counts of bacteria found on the hands?

I’m pretty compulsive about washing my hands especially since our microbiology teacher had us swab anything we wanted and our class swabbed doorknobs, faucets, handles that flush toilets – you get the idea. But after reading this article, I found myself paying even more attention to the palms of my hands. If you’re interested in reading more about this study, click on this link.

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A new on-line tool published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) predicts the amount of time required to reach your weight-loss goals given an estimated amount of exercise and one’s starting weight. The tool estimates how diet and exercise alters metabolism and provides a time-frame to expect  - bottom line is that it shows a much longer time frame than otherwise expected.

That’s why weight loss is all about changing one’s approach to food and diet rather than concentrating on the amount of weight to lose. In other words, it’s not about the numbers but about the commitment to a healthier life-style. The weight will eventually come off as long as one continues to focus on life-style changes rather than trying to lose 1-2#/week – or whatever goal set.

You can check out how long it will take you to reach your weight loss goals by following this link to this site (it does require that you download Java which is free).  If you have any difficulty downloading it, google “body-weight simulator” located at www.bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov

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What interested me was that 3 grams of acetaminophen can cause blood loss equal to that of taking ibuprofen, 12oo mg/day. We tend to think that acetaminophen is more benign than non-steroidal antiinflammatories like Motrin, Aleve etc, but in fact, Tylenol/acetaminophen can increase blood clotting time in those taking warfarin (Coumadin), can cause liver toxicity in previously deemed therapeutic doses (3g/day or 3000 mg/day) and can cause blood loss.

All subjects had documented OA of the knees and were over 40 years old. They were on one of the following regimens:

• ibuprofen 400 mg 3x/day
• acetaminophen 1000 mg 3x/day
• combination of ibuprofen 200mg/acetaminophen 500mg tablet 3x/day or
• combination ibuprofen 400mg/acetaminophen 1000mg 3x/day

Subjects were tracked over 2 time frames: 10 days (short term relief) and 13 weeks (long term relief).

For me, some of the study results were predictable, others were not.

The results were as follows:

• neither the high or low dose combination ibuprofen/acetaminophen was superior to ibuprofen alone (not predictable)
• acetaminophen alone did not provide adequate pain relief (predictable)
• ibuprofen alone or combined is superior to acetaminophen (seems an obvious conclusion given the second statement)
• blood loss was significantly higher in the combination medication group (not a surprise) than in all other groups combined

This study involved over 900 subjects so the results were statistically relevant.

Bottom line? Don’t take either acetaminophen or ibuprofen daily for periods of time longer than several weeks. Acetaminophen is not entirely benign and long term use can cause clinically significant blood loss and liver dysfunction; although ibuprofen provides better pain relief it too causes blood loss).

For more information about this study, go to this link for the complete article.

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Endurance athletes, defined as marathon runners, endurance triathletes, alpine cyclists and ultra triathletes, were evaluated 2 to 3 weeks before the race, immediately after the race and 6-11 days after a race. The athletes had no previous cardiac history or risk factors, trained more than 10 hours a week and had finished in the top quarter of their races.

The results showed decreased functioning immediately following a race in the right lower chamber of the heart, where deoxygenated blood is pumped into the lungs.

The study measured the right ventricle’s ability to pump blood, otherwise known as the “ejection fraction”. A lower ejection fraction indicates poorer performance. In addition, the study measured several enzymes that are released when heart damage occurs; tropoonin and B-type natriuretic peptide. Both markers were significantly elevated after the race. In fact all measures of right ventricular function were worse right after a race.

Given that ventricular function normalized 6-11 days post race, it raises the question of what long term damage, if any, is done to the hearts of these ultra athletes.

Since triathalons are growing at a rate of 20% per year and many middle-aged people are entering these races, further research into the long term effects of rigorous exercise needs to occur.

This is not the first study to evaluate heart function in endurance athletes. The study author, Dr. L La Gerche, a cardiologist who is a marathon runner, published similar results in the European Heart Journal in 2006. You can read more about Dr. LaGerche and the study by following this link to the European Heart Journal.

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Intravascular ultrasound was performed on 1039 patients with a history of coronary disease. A baseline ultrasound established the level of plaque build-up with repeat ultrasounds performed after 104 weeks of treatment. Patients took the maximum dose of each medication: 80 mg for Lipitor and 40 mg for Crestor.

The findings measured a number of things and concluded:

1. Both Crestor and Lipitor reduced the bad cholesterol (LDL) while raising the HDL (good cholesterol). Crestor however, did better than Lipitor:  70.2% vs 62.6%
2. Both medications had acceptable side-effect profiles, with a low incidence of lab abnormalities and cardiovascular events
3. Crestor reduced the volume of atheroma by 1.22% vs Lipitor’s 0.99%
4. Crestor induced regression in 68.5% of patients vs 63.2% in those taking Lipitor

In conclusion, both drugs achieved significant regression of coronary atherosclerosis as well as regression in the volume of atheroma.

The study was designed by the Cleveland Clinic, with funding by AstraZeneca, the makers of Crestor. In addition, the studies were conducted at multiple sites around the country as well as overseas.

Among all the statins, Crestor and Lipitor have been known to reduce LDL levels more than other statins. Lipitor has just recently become generic and so may be less expensive than Crestor depending on an individual’s insurance plan.

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These questions and more were raised by researchers at the University of Virginia’s Marriage Project. Their findings about what makes for a successful marriage can benefit all of us.

Follow this link to read more about it.

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Medical researchers took blood samples of sedentary college students who were given memory tests followed by strenuous exercise. They discovered that the group that performed better on memory tests after exercising, had a higher level of a certain protein known as “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” (BDNF). BDNF promotes the health of brain cells.

The study, done in Ireland, flashed photos of the faces and names of strangers, on a computer screen. Students were then asked to recall the names as the photos flashed on the screen again. Half the group then rode a stationary bicycle until they were exhausted while the other half of the group, sat quietly for 30 minutes. Both groups then took the tests again. The group that exercised scored significantly better than those who did not exercise.

In similar experiments using older subjects, researchers found that the subjects who exercised performed skilled tasks better than their counterparts. BDNF apparently plays a crucial role in maintaining one’s ability to perform skilled tasks as well as enhancing memory.

A synopsis of these studies appeared in the Well section of the NY Times recently. For more information, follow this link.

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But an Italian doctor,  Stefano Guandalini who came to this country in 1996 and is the founder and director of the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center routinely treated patients for celiac disease in Italy.

Setting out to prove that celiac disease was much more prevalent in this country, he along with fellow colleague, Dr. Alessio Fasano, conducted a large scale study of over 13,000 people in 32 states who were randomly tested for the antibodies. Astonishingly, they found that 1 out of every 133 tested positive for the disease.

You can read how their contributions helped launch a sea-change in the food industry with the rise of gluten-free products in this fascinating article published recently in the New York Times entitled, “Should We All Go Gluten-Free?”.

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