Category Archives: Health

Health, Medical, Research, Science

Electronic devices in children’s bedrooms should be banned….

… Concentration and behaviour were affected when children were allowed to have TVs or computers in their bedrooms

Scientists say that TVs and computers for children should be banned from their bedrooms. Children who watch TV in the bedroom are less likely to exercise and be tired at bedtime – with researchers insisting that getting a good night’s sleep is particularly important for pre-teens.

Scientists have warned that electronic devices can disturb sleep, leading to memory problems and poorer marks in school.

Researchers from Finland asked 353 children aged 10 to 11 about their TV and computer use and their sleeping habits and quizzed them again 18 months later.

The more a child played on the computer or watched the TV, the later they went to bed. They also slept less on school nights.

Findings reported in the journal BMC Public Health says that having a TV or computer in the bedroom appeared to be particularly disruptive for boys.

The Finnish researchers, based at the University of Helsinki, said that children who play a lot on computers may exercise far less and so be less tired at bedtime.

Hormonal changes, particularly during puberty, brought on by the light of the screens could also make it more difficult to get to sleep.

Researcher Teija Nuutinen, of the University of Helsinki, said that electronic devices should be kept out of children’s bedrooms, and added:

… Children need extra sleep as they go through puberty but our study finds that TV and computer use affect the sleep of children. 

… This is especially true during the week and may be impacting their school work as well as their development. 

… Media viewing habits should be considered for children who are tired and struggling to concentrate, or who have behaviour problems caused by lack of sleep.

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

Five cups of tea a day ‘reduces’ prostate cancer risk…

FLAVONOIDS LINKED TO REDUCED RISK

Research has shown that drinking five or more cups of tea a day lowers the risk of advanced prostate cancer by a third.

Men who drink five or more cups daily have a 33 per cent lower risk of developing stage IV prostate cancer.

Scientists also found that men have a 25 per cent reduced risk of reaching stage II, compared with those who drink just one cup a day.

Stage II is where the tumour has grown inside the prostate gland but not spread. By stage IV the cancer has typically spread to the lymph nodes, bones or liver.

It is believed naturally occurring compounds in tea called flavonoids inhibit cancer cells from forming tumours.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter if you have milk, sugar, sweetener or lemon in your tea. The health benefits are not reduced.

Scientists in the Netherlands analysed data on 58,279 men and found 3,362 cases of prostate cancer, including 1,164 who were at an advanced stage of prostate cancer.

By finding out how much tea the men drank and what foods they ate, they were able to compare their lack of flavonoid intake with their health record.

Dr Milan Geybels is lead researcher at Maastricht University. In a statement he said:

… We had data on tumour stage for most cases which made it possible to stratify data against the stage of the disease.

… Our study included a large number of advanced stage prostate cancers.

One cup of tea provides about 150-200mg of flavonoids and it is the richest source in the British diet.

Each year about 41,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer and almost 11,000 die from the disease.

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

ACE inhibitors may boost brainpower…

BLOOD PRESSURE DRUGS

Scientists and medical practitioners have long recognised that taking blood pressure drugs may slow the onset of Alzheimer’s.

But, now, researchers have uncovered evidence that the drugs, known as ACE inhibiters, may actually boost brainpower.

Those with high blood pressure are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s and similar diseases, but the study found their memory and thinking skills were protected by the drugs they were taking.

ACE inhibitors – medicines which include ramipril, captopril and perindopril – have become increasingly popular over the past decade, particularly for younger patients.

Researchers in Ireland and Canada investigated drugs which target a specific biochemical pathway called the renin angiotensin system – a hormone system which is thought to affect the development of Alzheimer’s.

The study by researchers compared the rate of cognitive decline in 361 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia (caused by problems in the blood supply to the brain), or a mix of both. Of that group, 85 were already taking ACE inhibitors; the rest were not.

Also analysed was the impact on 30 patients, with an average age of 77, who were taking the drugs for the first time.

The patients were assessed over six months, using the Standardised Mini Mental State Examination or the Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment tests.

The study found that those taking ACE inhibitors experienced marginally slower rates of cognitive decline than those who were not. The findings were first disclosed in the journal BMJ Open.

Scientists from University College Cork in Ireland and McMaster University in Ontario also found that the brainpower of those patients who had been newly prescribed ACE inhibitors actually improved. This suggests for the first time that such drugs may not only halt cognitive decline, but may actually improve brainpower.

The researchers said:

… Although the differences were small and of uncertain clinical significance, if sustained over years, compounding effects may well have significant clinical benefits.

They warn that ACE inhibitors are harmful to some patients, so if wider and larger studies confirm they work well in dementia, it may be only certain people with high blood pressure who stand to benefit.

Previous studies have linked other forms of blood pressure medication with anti-dementia benefits.

A statement issued by the Alzheimer Society, said:

… Any drug which halts cognitive decline is potentially exciting because it has the ability to radically improve quality of life.

But Dr Simon Ridley of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

… This is a short study with a small number of participants. It is unclear if the (improvement) could be due to the control of blood pressure, a different effect of the drugs or another factor.

Among the most widely used ACE inhibitors are perindopril (also known as Coversyl), ramipril (Tritace), captopril (Capoten), trandolapril (Gopten), fosinopril (Staril), lisinopril (Zestril and prinivil).

They work by stopping the body from creating the hormone angiotensin II. This has a variety of effects but essentially relaxes blood vessels and helps reduce the amount of water re-absorbed by the kidneys – helping to decrease blood pressure.

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