Healthwise    June 2010  

Healthwise is a regular column written especially for laterlife.com members and visitors. Welcome to healthwise 123.

For previous articles in the healthwise series visit 'More Healthwise' 

NEWS AND VIEWS

We should all be delighted at the advances now being made by scientists, researchers and the medical profession. For 2010 we will continue to highlight some of the latest developments in health and medicine. 

Healthwise 123

They’re nuts!

If you want to lower your cholesterol levels, eat nuts. That’s the advice of Dr Joan Sabate of Loma Linda University in California.

Reporting on recent research involving nearly 600 people, it was found that those who ate an average of 76g of nuts a day had levels of cholesterol that were seven per cent lower than those who ate very few nuts.

The research showed any nuts can be beneficial.

Hope for cancer sufferers

A new breakthrough in cancer treatment may be coming through after tests showed that tumours shrank or stopped growing when patients were injected with a harmless virus before being treated with radiotherapy.

The virus, reovirus, has been incorporated into a new drug called Reolysis and tests have shown it magnifies the effects of radiotherapy with astonishing results.

The trials were carried out at the London Institute of Cancer Research and are ongoing.

Even more benefits from that cuppa

Green tea is already hailed as a top health drink; helping to prevent heart disease and cancer. Now a Chinese study says green tea could also help give protection against glaucoma and other eye diseases.

Green tea is beneficial because it contains numerous compounds called polyphenols. These have antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The polyphenols penetrate cells and protect genetic material from free radical damage.

The recent eye study found that the antioxidants in green tea are not only absorbed by the eyes, but remain there for more than 20 hours after drinking, offering good protective benefits.

Helpful purple grapes

Another report on Concord purple grapes again indicates that they can help prevent heart attacks, angina and strokes.

Clinical evidence has suggested that people who do not have a drop in blood pressure at night are at an increased risk of heart problems. Now a study at Boston University School of Medicine in America found that the grape juice helped blood pressure fall at night, giving the heart and blood vessels a rest.

Concord purple grape juice is now available from supermarkets here in the UK.

If in any doubt about any of the information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult your GP.

IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION

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