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August 2008 vol. 13 no. 8

Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)


Table of Contents:


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Cancer Survivors Aren’t Pursuing Healthy Lifestyles

Only 5 percent of cancer survivors meet three common recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and smoking cessation, according to a study examining the diets and lifestyles of 9,105 breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder, uterine, and skin melanoma cancer survivors. While 83 percent to 92 percent are nonsmokers, just 15 percent to 20 percent are meeting the fruit and vegetable recommendation, and 30 percent to 47 percent are meeting the recommendation for physical activity. The research showed that the more recommendations cancer survivors met, the higher their health-related quality of life became. The American Cancer Society published recommendations in 2006 for cancer survivors: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate to strenuous exercise, or one hour of strenuous exercise every week; eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day; and quit smoking. PCRM’s Cancer Project provides detailed information on nutrition for cancer prevention and survival.

Blanchard CM, Courneya KS, Stein K; American Cancer Society’s SCS-II. Cancer survivors’ adherence to lifestyle behavior recommendations and associations with health-related quality of life: results from the American Cancer Society’s SCS-II.J Clin Oncol. May 1, 2008;26(13):2198-2204.


Progesterone in Dairy Products May Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Consuming high-fat dairy products may increase breast cancer risk because of high levels of bovine progesterone, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Since the 1950s, dairy farmers have kept cows continually pregnant, which have increased the level of progesterone in milk. Researchers measured salivary levels of progesterone in male volunteers 24 hours after they ate three servings of high-fat dairy products: 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 ounces of cheese, and a quart of ice cream. Salivary progesterone levels rose by 30 percent to 100 percent in nearly all subjects. Male subjects were used because their progesterone levels are lower and less cyclic than females, making changes easier to detect. Because progesterone dissolves readily in fat, it is absorbed more efficiently in high-fat products. In previous studies, the consumption of dairy products—including low-fat varieties—has been linked to pre-menopausal breast cancer risk, possibly because of increased blood levels of insulin-like growth factor-1.

William H. Goodson III, MD. Milk products are a source of dietary progesterone. Abstract 202, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 2007. Available at: http://www.abstracts2view.com/sabcs/view.php?nu=SABCS07L_1108&terms=. Accessed June 9, 2008


Boosting Potassium May Lower Blood Pressure

Research shows that boosting levels of potassium in the diet may lower a person’s risk of developing high blood pressure and may decrease blood pressure in people who already have “hypertension.”

High blood pressure remains the chief reason for visits to doctors’ offices and for prescription drug use in the U.S., two researchers from Nashville, Tennessee note in a special supplement to The Journal of Clinical Hypertension this month.

Dr. Mark C. Houston, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Dr. Karen J. Harper from Harper Medical Communications, Inc. in Nashville, also point out that a healthy intake of potassium is thought to be one reason why vegetarians and isolated populations have a very low incidence of heart disease.

In isolated societies consuming diets low in sodium and high in fruits and vegetables, which have and therefore high levels of potassium, hypertension affects only 1 percent of the population, they note. In contrast, in industrialized societies, where people consume diets high in processed foods and large amounts of dietary sodium 1 in 3 persons have hypertension.

The typical American diet contains about double the sodium and half the potassium that is currently recommended in dietary guidelines. Low potassium intake is thought to contribute to the prevalence of high blood pressure in Americans.

Based on their review of published studies on the topic, Houston and Harper say if Americans were to boost their potassium intake, the number of adults with known high blood pressure could fall by more than 10 percent. In 2006, the American Heart Association issued new guidelines calling for Americans to get 4.7 grams per day of potassium.

“An increase in potassium with a decrease in sodium is probably the most important dietary choice (after weight loss) that should be implemented to reduce cardiovascular disease,” Houston and Harper contend.

Some studies also show that diets containing at least 500 to 1,000 milligrams magnesium daily and more than 800 milligrams of calcium daily may help lower blood pressure and the risk of developing high blood pressure.

“A high intake of these minerals through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables may improve blood pressure levels and reduce coronary heart disease and stroke,” Houston and Harper conclude.

Journal of Clinical Hypertension, July 2008.


Garlic Supplements Lower Blood Pressure

Garlic supplements may lower blood pressure just as effectively as some drugs used to treat hypertension can, according to a new research review.

“Supplementation with garlic preparations may provide an acceptable alternative or complementary treatment option for hypertension,” Dr. Karin Ried and colleagues from The University of Adelaide in South Australia write.

Research to date on garlic and blood pressure has had “inconclusive” results, they note, while the last meta-analysis - in which the results of several studies are analyzed collectively — only included studies done up until 1994.

To provide an updated perspective, Ried and her team included more recently published studies in their analysis, identifying 11 studies in which the patients were randomly assigned to garlic or placebo. In most studies, participants given garlic took it in powdered form, as a standardized supplement. Doses ranged from 600 mg to 900 mg daily, which study participants took for 12 to 23 weeks.

When the researchers pooled the data from the trials, they found that garlic reduced systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by 4.6 mm Hg, on average. An analysis limited to people with high blood pressure showed garlic reduced systolic blood pressure by 8.4 mm Hg, on average, and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by 7.3 mm Hg. The higher a person’s blood pressure -was at the beginning of the study, the more it was reduced by taking garlic.

The effects were similar to those of widely used drugs for treating hypertension, for example beta blockers, which reduce systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg, and ACE inhibitors, which produce an 8 mm Hg average drop in systolic blood pressure, the researchers note.

The 600 mg to 900 mg dosage used in the studies is equivalent to 3.6 mg to 5.4 mg of garlic’s active ingredient, allicin, Ried and her team point out. A fresh clove of garlic contains 5 mg to 9 mg of allicin.

In the population as a whole, they note, reducing systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 5 points and diastolic blood pressure by 2 to 3 points could cut the risk of heart disease and heart disease-related death by up to 20 percent.

More research is needed to determine whether garlic supplementation might have a long-term effect on heart disease risk, the researchers conclude.


Selected segments are reproduced from:

Dr. Mercola’s excellent website: http://www.mercola.com

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine http://www.pcrm.org