Health Tips ... from UPI

VEGETARIANS HAVE LOW BONE MASS

Vegetarians who eat raw food have abnormally low bone mass, usually a sign of osteoporosis and increased fracture risk, but perhaps not in their case. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found vegetarians have other biological markers indicating their bones, although light in weight, may be healthy, they report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr. Luigi Fontana of the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science says the raw food vegans, ages 33 to 85, in the study had significantly lower bone mass in important skeletal regions, such as the hip and lumbar spine, but did not show other typical markers of osteoporosis. Fontana says more study is needed to determine whether raw food vegans have light-but-healthy bones.

TOO MUCH IRON MAY RAISE CANCER RISK

Scientists say consuming too much dietary iron may increase the risk of cancer in patients predisposed to iron overload. The researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina found people with elevated levels of serum transferrin saturation -- an indicator of iron overload -- who ingest more than 18 milligrams of iron a day have a 2.24 times greater relative risk of cancer than those with normal transferrin saturation levels. Having high transferrin saturation with a normal diet does not carry increased risk, they report in the Annals of Family Medicine. The authors say some 7 percent of U.S. adults have elevated transferrin saturation levels and are at increased cancer risk, which may be reduced with simple dietary restrictions.

GREEN TEA MAY STIFLE CANCER

Studies with animals and cells indicate there may be some anti-cancer benefits to drinking green tea, scientists say. Investigators looked at the disease-prevention properties of green tea polyphenols, or antioxidant compounds. In a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, University of Alabama, Birmingham, researcher Santosh Katiyar reported finding in test tube and mouse studies tea polyphenols may inhibit the growth of breast tumor cells and slow their spread to other organs. Studies also show treatment of spreading breast tumor cells with green tea polyphenols may lead to tumor cell death, he says. The team also found feeding mice green tea equivalent to human consumption inhibited the spread of cancer to the lungs and increased the animals' survival, Katiyar says.

HEAT WRAP MAY OFFER PAIN RELIEF

A study suggests continuous low-level heat wrap therapy may provide relief from pain and stiffness associated with osteoarthritis of the knee, scientists say. Patients treated with the technique for eight hours reported significant pain reduction and improved knee flexibility, compared to placebo and common oral pain medications, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, says lead author Dr. Bill McCarberg, director of the Chronic Pain Management Program for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. The findings were presented at a meeting of the American Pain Society in Boston.

--

(Editors: For more information about VEGETARIANS, contact Jim Dryden at 314-286-0110 or jdryden@wustl.edu. For Angela Lower at 800-274-2237, ext. 5224 or alower@aafp.org. For TEA, Hank Black at 205-934-8938 or hblack@uab.edu. For PAIN, call 619-528-5000.)