Coffee, exercise may decrease risk of skin cancer

A cup of coffee and a morning workout may significantly reduce your risk of skin cancer, according to a new animal study presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago.

The researchers, from Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, wanted to evaluate the effects of both caffeine and exercise on mice that were at high risk for developing skin cancer. Previous research has shown that mice given either caffeine or an exercise wheel had a reduction in skin cancers.

The researchers exposed high risk mice to ultra violet B light, which is known to cause skin cancer, and then gave one group of mice caffeine (in water), one group an exercise wheel, a third group caffeine plus an exercise wheel, and a control group plain water for 14 weeks.

Results showed that mice who got a dose of caffeine and exercised on the wheel had 62 percent fewer non-melanoma skin cancers. The size of those tumors also decreased by 85 percent compared with the mice that did not get caffeine or exercise.

"We found that this combination treatment can decrease sunlight-caused skin cancer formation in a mouse model," saidYao-Ping Lu, associate research professor of chemical biology and director of skin cancer prevention at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, N.J.

The mice who only had caffeine (and no wheel) had a 27 percent reduced risk of skin cancers and those that exercised only had a 35 percent reduced risk. Both groups had a significant reduction in the size of tumors compared to the controls.

They also found that mice given caffeine exercised 40 percent, suggesting that coffee may make mice (and people) inclined to exercise longer and harder. Finally, those in the caffeine plus exercise group experienced a reduction in fat and had as much as 92 percent reduced levels of inflammatory markers. Fat tissue secretes a lot of inflammatory chemicals, so less fat would lead to a less inflammation. This may be the link to skin cancer, Lu said. Inflammation has been associated with increased risk of skin cancer.

The authors believe that the combined effects of exercise plus caffeine may be able to ward off skin cancer and also prevent inflammation related to other obesity-linked cancers.

"I believe we may extrapolate these findings to humans and anticipate that we would benefit from these combination treatments as well," Lu added.

SOY ISOFLAVONES, CACAO FLAVONOIDS CUT CVD RISK IN DIABETICS

Postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes may reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by increasing the amount of dietary cacao flavonoids and soy isoflavones, according to a study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Researchers at Norwich Medical School conducted a parallel-design, placebo-controlled trial with type 2 diabetic patients who were randomly selected to consume 27 g/day (split dose) flavonoid-enriched chocolate (containing 850 mg flavan-3-ols [90 mg epicatechin] and 100 mg isoflavones [aglycone equivalents)]/day) or matched placebo for one year.

At follow-up, the women receiving the intervention therapy had significant improvements in biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk compared to those taking the inactive ingredients. Those receiving the flavonoids experienced a significant reduction in estimated peripheral insulin resistance and an improvement in insulin sensitivity. The women also had reduced their total cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio and LDL-cholesterol levels.

Drinking energy and sports drinks like "bathing" teeth in acid

Energy drinks and sports drinks might provide a quick boost for consumers, but at the cost of their teeth. A new study finds people who drink these types of beverages are "essentially bathing their teeth with acid," the authors said.

The study, published in the May/June 2012 issue of General Dentistry, examined the acidity levels in 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks to see how the drinks would impact a tooth's enamel. Researchers determined acidity levels can vary between brands, as well as certain flavors of the same brand. To determine what those acid levels did to teeth, researchers immersed human tooth enamel samples into each beverage for 15 minutes, followed by immersing the samples in artificial saliva for two hours, four times per day over a five-day period.

What did they find? As few as five days after exposure to both types of drinks, enamel damage presented. The researchers saw energy drinks in particular caused double the amount of damage to teeth that sports drinks caused.

Study author Dr. Poonam Jain, director of the community and preventive dentistry program at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, said in a news release that lots of patients she sees are surprised to learn how bad these drinks are for teeth. That's especially true for teens - between 30 and 50 percent of teens have reported consuming energy drinks and up to 62 percent of teens saying they drink at least one sports drink per day, she said.

"Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda," Jain said in the statement.

Dentist Dr. Jennifer Bone, spokesperson for Academy of General Dentistry, the organization that publishes the journal, said in the statement that teens and adults should curb their intake of these types of drinks. If they're going to drink one anyway, she recommends they chew sugar-free gum or rinse their mouth with water after drinking the beverage.

"Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal," Bone said.

The American Beverage Association came to the defense of the drinks, slamming the research behind the study.

"This study was not conducted on humans and in no way mirrors reality," the ABA's statement read. "People do not keep any kind of liquid in their mouths for 15 minute intervals over five day periods. Thus, the findings of this paper simply cannot be applied to real life situations."

‘HEDONIC HUNGER’ TRIGGERS OVEREATING, WEIGHT GAIN

New research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has found “hedonic hunger" or the desire to eat for taste and pleasure, triggers endogenous reward signals in the brain that can prompt a person to eat more of the pleasurable food—a phenomenon ultimately affects body mass and may be a factor in the continuing rise of obesity.

Researchers at the University of Naples suggest endogenous substances regulating reward mechanisms like the hormone ghrelin and chemical compounds, such as 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), are involved.

For the study, the researchers assessed eight satiated healthy adults, aged 21 to 33 years, feeding them each their personal favorite food and, later, a less-palatable food of equal caloric and nutrient value. Participants’ 2-AG and ghrelin levels were measured periodically. Plasma levels of ghrelin and 2-AG increased during hedonic eating, with the favorite foods, but not with non-hedonic eating. This increase suggests an activation of the chemical reward system, which overrides the body’s signal that enough has been eaten to restore energy.

“Hedonic hunger may powerfully stimulate overeating in an environment where highly palatable foods are omnipresent, and contribute to the surge in obesity," they said. “Understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying this eating behavior may shed some light on the obesity epidemic. Further research should confirm and extend our results to patients with obesity or with other eating disorders in order to better understand the phenomenon of hedonic eating."