Health News

• A new study says that caffeine may interact with estrogen in women, possibly resulting in more cancer. Several studies have found connections between caffeine and breast and ovarian cancers, though the findings have not always been consistent. There is no verdict on whether the caffeine is a direct risk or influences other body processes, though estrogen and other sex hormones definitely play a role in both cancers. The study published in the journal Cancer found that as caffeine increased in premenopausal women (in coffee and other products), levels of estradiol, a form of estrogen, declined proportionally during the second half of the menstrual cycle. Higher caffeine also kicked up levels of progesterone. Among postmenopausal women, greater coffee and caffeine intake only yielded a link to higher levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) which decreases the activity of estradiol and testosterone. The result in those cases was a lower risk of breast cancer. In theory, lower estrogen levels in premenopausal women should protect women against ovarian cancer, so the spike in that disease among premenopausal women puzzles researchers.

• Ocean Spray has been granted a patent for using cranberry seed oil for “treating” or “preventing” cancer other diseases almost six years after the application was submitted by inventor Wassef Nawar.

• Data from 14,960 people in seven countries indicates eating more fish, especially the oily kind, may reduce the risk of dementia by about 20% (source: the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).

• A study by the University of Bristol in the UK suggest that campylobacter and salmonella may become more virulent in chickens during transporting due to the secretion of a stress hormone. Noradrenalin is released during times of stress, and increases iron in the chicken’s system which in turn stimulates the growth and spread of both campylobacter and salmonella. Previous data has found that bacteria which cause food poisoning can increase tenfold in the guts of chickens after being sent to slaughterhouses and feed lots.

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