Curiously Awesome

The health benefits of broccoli and related vegetables may come in part from a chemical known as sulforaphane, which appears to activate a specific heart-protecting protein.

Researchers studied the chemical sulforaphane (occurring naturally in vegetables in the family Brassicaceae–known as cruciferous vegetables). Cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, cauliflower, radish, and turnip. Sulforaphane increases the activity of the protein Nrf2. In these areas, blood flow is usually slowed or even disrupted completely.

These findings provide a possible way by which eating vegetables can help protect against heart disease. The biochemistry revealed could lead to more medical approaches for controlling disease that leads to heart attacks and strokes.

Children who are too clean have a greater chance of developing inflammation and disease. Normal skin bacteria acts to balance immune response and protect the body from overreactions to injuries. Keeping children excessively clean may be interfering with children’s natural healing function and making them more susceptible to disease.

Exposure to germs is beneficial to young children. They need germs to build immunity and prevent the development of allergies. Staphylococci (a bacteria) is important for blocking inflammation. Overuse of skin soaps and hand sanitizers is reducing staphylococci.

A significant rise in allergies, asthma, and serious inflammation diseases is becoming prevalent in the UK and in the United States and researchers suggest that the current sanitation craze is responsible. The human body fights disease and stays healthy because of the presence of microbes that counteract each other. Antibacterial products can cause the growth of super-bacteria that may contribute to serious problems.

Children who grow up on farms with a variety of bugs, worms and natural elements have fewer allergies and autoimmune problems than urban children who spend more time indoors.

If you live in an area with high traffic noise you may find you have higher blood pressure and a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Exposure to traffic noise that is above 60 decibels is associated with high blood pressure among young and middle-aged people.

Previous studies have found a connection between living near airports and high blood pressure. Constant noise may place the body in a state of chronic stress. This state of stress leads to a higher heart rate and blood pressure.

A full 28 percent of middle-aged people living in areas with noise averaging above 64 decibels reported high blood pressure. Approximately 17 percent of middle-aged adults in quieter neighborhoods suffered from hypertension.

Sixty-five decibels is slightly louder than a normal conversation.

A recent study conducted on a group of 3,000 women indicates that those who drank two or more artificially-sweetened beverages each day doubled their risk of decline in kidney function.

The study evaluated the effects of all sweetened drinks on progressive kidney decline. The conclusion is that two or more diet drinks per day leads to a twice as fast increase in rapid kidney decline.

High sodium also was indicated as promoting progressive kidney decline. Diet soda contains very high amounts of sodium.

Aspartame was first approved in the 1970s with studies claiming it was safe. The FDA initially approved the chemical for use in some foods based upon studies submitted by G.D. Searle Co. (the creator of aspartame). Shortly thereafter, a discovery made by a research psychiatrist who found that a primary ingredient in aspartame caused holes to form in the brains of mice. The FDA then created its own internal task force to investigate the original claims about aspartame’s safety.

The FDA discovered a series of falsified claims, doctored study results, and pertinent information missing.

Over the past 25 years, studies continue to be released that support aspartame’s safety even though they do not address the results of other studies that have concluded aspartame is dangerous.

The most prudent course of action is to avoid artificial sweeteners completely. There are many safe alternatives (stevia, for example) which will provide sweetening without harmful side effects.

New findings reveal that the chances of surviving cardiac arrest are improved by instigating chest compressions only instead of the standard CPR (including mouth-to-mouth breathing).

Five percent of victims survive without any form of CPR being administered to them. Those who receive CPR have a 6-percent chance of survival. Chest pumping alone has an 11-percent survival rate.

Trends have also changed among those trained in administering CPR. The number of cases where CPR-trained people treated an individual using chest compressions only has risen to 77 percent.

Only 20 percent of people would be willing to perform conventional CPR if needed.

The American Heart Association recommends that people use compression-only CPR when they witness a collapse in public. Compression-only CPR was designed to stem the tide of growing unwillingness among the population to perform CPR.

The least nutritious cereals are advertised to children the most frequently…right? In fact, the worst cereals are marketed the most aggressively to children.

The average American child sees 642 entertaining cereal advertisements per year…and advertising is created to fit the audience. The cereals with the most sugar are aimed at young children, and more nutritious cereals are aimed at adults.

Interestingly, cereal manufactures claim they are making their cereals more nutritious and at the same time are reducing their advertising to children. The fact remains that cereals marketed to children have 85 percent more sugar, 60 percent more sodium and 65 percent less fiber than adult cereals.

Not only is obesity a concern, but there are other health issues associated with diets high in sugar and starches. These diets cause blood sugar spikes that are common to diabetes. These diets also create more oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is connected with a rising number of health issues.

Opiate painkillers are often used to treat acute and chronic pain. Morphine, especially, is used to relieve the pain of cancer patients. New evidence from two new studies reveals that opiate-based painkillers may actually increase the growth and spread of malignancies.

The idea of opiate drugs contributing to cancer recurrence surfaced about eight years ago from several unrelated clinical studies.

In laboratory studies using cell cultures and mice, scientists found that morphine revved up the multiplication of tumor cells. In addition, it inhibited the immune response and promoted the growth of the blood vessels that help nourish tumors and help them to thrive.

It would seem prudent to block the cancer-fueling ability of opiates by using them for as short a time as possible (or not at all even).

A new report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine concludes that the more television three-year-olds watch, the more aggressive they are.

Approximately 65 percent of families participating in a study reported their three-year-olds watched over two hours of television every day. In addition to this personal viewing, the children were also exposed to an additional 5.2 hours of general household TV use each day. The researchers determined that both direct watching of TV and general household TV use were significantly connected to childhood aggression.

One explanation is that homes with higher rates of TV use most likely have fewer restrictions about what children can watch — so children are probably being exposed to unregulated television content.

The conclusion of the researchers: “Current American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations mainly suggest limitations for direct child exposure to TV and other media; however, our findings suggest that additional household TV use may also be an important predictor of negative childhood outcomes, such as early childhood aggression.”

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Grapefruit extract…naturally present in grapefruit…may help prevent the physiological changes that produce the condition known as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Earlier studies have found that something present in grapefruit might be helpful to the body in regulating blood fats and sugars.

One recent study has found that people who ate one red grapefruit per day may reduce their cholesterol levels by 15% and their triglycerides by 17%. The grapefruit may also act to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Another study has determined that the naturally-occurring flavonoid naringenin may work similarly to the sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Naringenin appears to work by causing the liver to burn excess fat instead of storing it. This decreases the ability of liver cells to make cholesterol and thereby reduces insulin levels.