High dietary antioxidant intake might cut pancreatic cancer risk

Increasing dietary intake of the antioxidant vitamins C, E, and selenium could help cut the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by up to two thirds, suggests new research. 

If the association turns out to be causal, one in 12 of these cancers might be prevented, suggest the researchers, who are leading the Norfolk arm of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study. Cancer of the pancreas kills more than a quarter of a million people every year around the world. And 7500 people are diagnosed with the disease every year in the UK, where it is the six commonest cause of cancer death.

The disease has the worst prognosis of any cancer, with just 3% of people surviving beyond five years. Genes, smoking, and type 2 diabetes are all risk factors, but diet is also thought to have a role, and may explain why rates vary so much from country to country, say the authors. The researchers tracked the health of more than 23,500 40 to 74 year olds, who had entered the Norfolk arm of the EPIC study between 1993 and 1997.

Each participant filled in a comprehensive food diary, detailing the types and amount of every food they ate for 7 days, as well as the methods they used to prepare it. Each entry in the food diary was matched to one of 11,000 food items, and the nutrient values calculated using a specially designed computer program (DINER). Forty nine people (55% men) developed pancreatic cancer within 10 years of entering the study. This increased to 86 (44% men) by 2010. On average, they survived 6 months after diagnosis.

The nutrient intakes of those diagnosed with the disease within 10 years of entering EPIC were compared with those of almost 4000 healthy people to see if there were any differences. The analysis showed that a weekly intake of selenium in the top 25% of consumption roughly halved their risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with those whose intake was in the bottom 25%. And those whose vitamins C, E, and selenium intake was in the top 25% of consumption were 67% less likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those who were in the bottom 25%. If the link turns out to be causal, that would add up to the prevention of more than one in 12 (8%) of pancreatic cancers, calculate the authors.

Antioxidants may neutralize the harmful by-products of metabolism and normal cell activity -- free radicals -- and curb genetically programmed influences, as well as stimulating the immune system response, explain the authors.

Other trials using antioxidant supplements have not produced such encouraging results, but this may be because food sources of these nutrients may behave differently from those found in supplements, they say. "If a causal association is confirmed by reporting consistent findings from other epidemiological studies, then population based dietary recommendations may help to prevent pancreatic cancer," they conclude.

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The above abstract is republished from materials provided by BMJ.
Note: please contact the source cited above

New Study Suggests Moderate Alcohol Consumption May Help Prevent Bone Loss

Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol as part of a healthy lifestyle may benefit women's bone health, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis. A new study assessed the effects of alcohol withdrawal on bone turnover in postmenopausal women who drank one or two drinks per day several times a week. Researchers at Oregon State University measured a significant increase in blood markers of bone turnover in women after they stopped drinking for just two weeks.

Low power scanning electron microscope image,
showing osteoporotic architecture in the fourth
 lumbar vertebra of an 89 year old woman.
The bone is heavily eroded in places by
 the action of osteoclasts and
 consists mainly of thin, fragile struts

Bones are in a constant state of remodeling with old bone being removed and replaced. In people with osteoporosis, more bone is lost than reformed resulting in porous, weak bones. About 80 percent of all people with osteoporosis are women, and postmenopausal women face an even greater risk because estrogen, a hormone that helps keep bone remodeling in balance, decreases after menopause.


Past studies have shown that moderate drinkers have a higher bone density than non-drinkers or heavy drinkers, but these studies have provided no explanation for the differences in bone density. Alcohol appears to behave similarly to estrogen in that it reduces bone turnover, the researchers said.


In the current study, published online July 11 in the journalMenopause, researchers in OSU’s Skeletal Biology Laboratory studied 40 early postmenopausal women who regularly had one or two drinks a day, were not on any hormone replacement therapies, and had no history of osteoporosis-related fractures.


The researchers found evidence for increased bone turnover – a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures – during the two week period when the participants stopped drinking. Even more surprising: the researchers found that less than a day after the women resumed their normal drinking, their bone turnover rates returned to previous levels.


“Drinking moderately as part of a healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet and exercise may be beneficial for bone health, especially in postmenopausal women,” said Urszula Iwaniec, associate professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at OSU and one of the study’s authors. “After less than 24 hours to see such a measurable effect was really unexpected.”


Iwaniec, OSU’s Skeletal Biology Laboratory director Russell Turner, and researcher Gianni Maddalozzo assisted OSU alumna Jill Marrone with the study, which was Marrone’s master’s thesis.


This study is important because it suggests a cellular mechanism for the increased bone density often observed in postmenopausal women who are moderate drinkers, Turner said.
The researchers said many of the medications to help prevent bone loss are not only expensive, but can have unwanted side effects. While excessive drinking has a negative impact on health, drinking a glass of wine or beer regularly as part of a healthy lifestyle may be helpful for postmenopausal women.


“Everyone loses bone as they age, but not everyone develops osteoporosis,” Turner said. “Being able to identify factors, such as moderate alcohol intake, that influence bone health will help people make informed lifestyle choices.”


The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the John C. Erkkila, M.D. Endowment for Health and Human Performance.


Karin Hardin, Adam Branscum, Kenneth Philbrick and Lynn Cialdella-Kam of OSU co-authored the study, along with Anne Breggia and Clifford Rosen of the Maine Medical Center Research Institute.


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The above abstract is republished from materials provided by Origon State University.
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Naturally adhesive: New glues from renewable raw materials

Until now most adhesives have been manufactured from petroleum-based materials. However, they can also be obtained from renewable raw materials -- for example from proteins, natural rubber, starch, or cellulose. Researchers are working on new formulas for industrial applications.

Glues can be obtained from renewable raw materials –
for example from proteins, natural rubber, starch, or cellulose.
(Credit: Image courtesy of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)

Shoes, cars, airplanes, rotor blades for wind turbines, self-adhesive notes, plasters -- this is just a sample of the many products featuring adhesives. More than 820,000 tons of adhesive were produced in Germany in 2010, according to the German Adhesives Association -- Industrieverband Klebstoffe. To this day the majority of adhesives are manufactured from petroleum-based materials. Only gradually is the industry also offering adhesives made from renewable raw materials such as starch, cellulose, dextrins, and proteins. Pioneering products featuring these new adhesives include wallpaper pastes and glue sticks.

Adhesive based on polylactic acid

In two projects, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT are working on further new adhesive formulas based on renewable raw materials. In cooperation with the Recklinghausen site of the Westfälische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences, and the companies Jowat, Logo tape, and Novamelt, and with support from Germany's Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, researchers at UMSICHT in Oberhausen are developing a pressure-sensitive adhesive for industrial applications. Products using pressure-sensitive adhesives include adhesive bandages, self-adhesive labels, and adhesive tapes. They are subject to particularly demanding requirements: They have to remain permanently adhesive at room temperature. Gentle pressure should suffice for them to adhere to almost all substrates, and yet it must be possible to remove them without leaving behind any residue. To achieve this, the adhesive force must precisely match the respective use.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are based on backbone polymers, which give the adhesives their inner strength (cohesion). The challenge for the UMSICHT researchers is to develop a backbone polymer from the raw material polylactic acid. What makes this biological material particularly attractive is its low production cost; since lactic acid is produced on an industrial scale, costs are in the region of prices for fossil-based backbone polymers. "However, the properties of polylactic acid are completely different from those of the polymers used to date, such as polyacrylates and styrene-based block copolymers," explains Dr. Stephan Kabasci, who heads the UMSICHT renewable resources business unit. This means that the researchers have to develop a completely new formula.

Packaging using compostable films

However, adhesives are also found in many types of packaging, for example where laminating films protect foodstuffs from dirt, moisture, and chemicals. This involves covering printed packaging and printed paper products on one or both sides with a transparent, shiny, matt, or embossed plastic film. In a collaborative project, UMSICHT scientists are working with the companies Achilles Papierveredelung Bielefeld, Jowat, and Deckert Management Consultants to develop innovative adhesive systems that meet the exacting quality requirements of laminated products as well as being compostable. In pursuit of this objective, the researchers are focusing primarily on water-based dispersion adhesives, in which the adhesive components are dispersed very finely in water. They are applied to one side of the product and joined while wet.

Nature shows us another path to developing biological adhesives. The buoy barnacle (Dosima fascicularis) produces a special adhesive which it uses to attach itself tightly to flotsam. This super-adhesive is so strong that it is almost impossible to break down into its constituent parts using ordinary solvents. Another special property it has is its ability to cure under water. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen are now trying to find out which amino acid components make up the relevant proteins. "Once we've done that, the next step will be to recreate the adhesive proteins in the laboratory," says Dr. Ingo Grunwald, expert for biological adhesives at the IFAM. Such bioadhesives are primarily of interest for medical applications, for example to close incisions or to replace or support the pins and screws used to treat bone fractures.