Curiously Awesome

A new study just published has documented that breastfeeding makes women with a family history of breast cancer 59 percent less likely to develop a breast malignancy themselves.

The study did not find this difference among women who didn’t have a family history of breast cancer.

Among women with a family history of breast cancer, the scientists found that those who breastfed were less than half as likely to develop pre-menopausal breast cancer as those who had not breastfed. This lowered risk with breastfeeding was similar to taking an anti-estrogen drug for five years. Anti-estrogen drugs cause many side effects including dizziness, mood swings, leg swelling, difficulty seeing and heart attack-causing blood clots.

How long a woman breastfeeds appears to be less critical than whether she breastfeeds at all.

Why does breastfeeding reduce the risk of breast cancer? The study states that the explanation is still unknown, It is suspected that when women do not breastfeed, inflammation and engorgement shortly after birth produces changes in breast tissue that may increase the chances of breast cancer.

Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants and contain beneficial anti-inflammatory properties. Sweet potatoes have a positive effect on some health conditions, including asthma, allergies, and arthritis. Sweet potatoes are also high in fiber and calcium. They contain high amounts of potassium, folate, vitamin c, and beta carotene.

Sweet potatoes are also beneficial for a diabetic diet. They are naturally sweet but only release their natural sugars in the form of glucose. This means they release into the body at a much slower rate. Foods like these allow diabetics to better manage their blood sugar levels.

Sweet potatoes are easy to prepare as well. Add sweet potatoes to your list of autumn vegetables and you will have a superfood on your menu. Sweet potatoes will increase your fiber and calcium intake, increase your vitamins, level your blood sugar, improve arthritis symptoms, and may improve eyesight problems.

Researchers have discovered that diesel fumes can increase malignancies. Diesel exhaust causes new blood vessels to grow that feed cancerous tumors.

Researchers discovered that three types of blood vessel development takes place after exposure to the diesel fumes. There are three different processes that occur that are associated with the growth of cancerous tumors. Of these three, angiogenesis is the most lethal one that helps malignancies spread.

Exhaust exposure levels that are roughly equal to the levels that humans regularly receive if they reside in cities and/or commute in heavy traffic have been found to be potentially lethal. A tiny size of inhaled diesel particles is enough to allow the material to penetrate into the human circulatory system, organs, and tissues. This is enough to potentially causing damage to the sensitive human body.

Bottom line: bad air is bad for the babies’ developing brains and might even contribute to the dumbing down of Americans.

Scientists have determined that an expectant mother’s exposure to chemicals called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) may adversely affect a child’s intelligence level. PAHs are released into the air from burning coal and tobacco. The main source of PAHs is cars that run on diesel, oil and gas. A new study found that children exposed to high levels of PAHs in New York City had IQ scores that were over 4 points lower than children with less chemical exposure.

A 4-point difference on intelligence tests is thought to make a significant difference on school performance and standardized tests.

This is the first study to correlate PAH exposure and IQ. It should warn us of the need to reduce environmental exposures for everyone