SESAME OIL MAY DROP BLOOD PRESSURE
Cooking with sesame oil appears to help reduce high blood pressure and lower the amount of medication needed to control hypertension. Using sesame oil as the sole cooking oil for 60 days, along with drug treatment, lowered patients' blood pressure levels 32 millimeters of mercury in systolic pressure -- the top number -- and 16 diastolic -- the bottom number. The researchers also report the dose of nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, was reduced from 22.7 mg per day to 7.45 mg per day. Researchers at the Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, reported their results at the Scientific Meeting of the Inter-American Society of Hypertension. The affect of the sesame oil on blood pressure might be due to polyunsaturated fatty acids and the compound sesamin, a lignan -- a phytochemical that acts as an antioxidant.
PREGNANCIES AFTER CONTRACEPTION
French researchers have found a third of the pregnancies among women in their study were unplanned and two-thirds occurred in contraception users. A fifth of the unplanned pregnancies happened among women using the Pill and a tenth among women using an intra-uterine device. In a paper, published in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers at the Hôpital de Bicêtre in Le Kremlin Bicêtrefound found 1 in 8 unwanted pregnancies were among women choosing condoms. A fifth used natural methods, such as male withdrawal or avoiding intercourse on fertile days. Thirty-five percent of the unwanted pregnancies were among women using no contraception. Of the Pill users, 60 percent said they had forgotten one or more pill, 18 percent said it was due to illness or taking other medication and a fifth had no explanation. Half of the unplanned pregnancies ended in abortion.
EXERCISE FACILITIES LACKING
Fewer parks, health clubs and other resources for physical activity exist in low and middle-income neighborhoods compared with high-income neighborhoods. Kansas State University researchers say two-thirds of the American population does not get enough physical activity to ward off cardiovascular disease, obesity and other diseases like diabetes. The study, published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, says having a fitness facility in the neighborhood might not provide a physical activity opportunity if it costs too much to use. Researchers recommend municipal leaders take steps to make physical activity areas more widely available and free for use.
SEARCH FOR MEANING COULD BOOST IMMUNITY
Pursuing goals related to living a meaningful life could boost the activity of certain cells in the immune system. According to a study of women who lost a relative to breast cancer, those who placed more importance on these goals at the beginning of the study had higher levels of activity among their "natural killer" immune cells. In addition, women who elevated the importance of these goals over a one-month period showed increases in natural killer cell activity, compared to women who said the importance of these goals had decreased for them. The study, by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, was published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
(EDITORS: For more information on SESAME OIL, contact Carole Bullock at (214) 706-1279 or [email protected]. For CONTRACEPTION, Margaret Willson at 44-153-677-2181 or [email protected]. For EXERCISE, Paul Estabrooks at [email protected]. For MEANING, Dan Page at (310) 794-0777 or [email protected])
