Adding to the misery of the debilitating, whole-body pain that comes with fibromyalgia is the question, sometimes from physicians, about whether the condition is real or imagined.
But a new paper published in the December, 2006, issue of Current Pain and Headache Reports points out that new imaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging indicate that in people with fibromyalgia, neural activity is increased, indicating abnormalities in central brain structures that could lead to increased pain sensitivity. The authors conclude that it is “time for us to move past the rhetoric about whether these conditions are real.” They also called for more research into the disease’s causes and potential cures.
I applaud this study. Regardless of its status as an official medical diagnosis, I have never questioned the reality of fibromyalgia. For some of my advice on an integrative approach to handling it, please look here.
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HEALTH NEWS
Eat Your Broccoli to Protect Your Baby
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables contain a cancer-protective nutrient called Indole-3-carbinol (I3C). Research at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University suggests that pregnant and nursing women who eat lots of cruciferous vegetables may be able to protect their babies not only against childhood cancers but against lung cancer later in life. In the study with mice, investigators exposed pregnant animals to a single high does of an environmental pollutant called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), produced in the real world by cigarette smoking or burning wood, coal, cooking oil or diesel fuel. They found that 80 percent of the baby mice died young from an aggressive type of lymphoma and all of the survivors developed lung cancer in mouse middle-age. When they gave pregnant mice supplements of I3C along with exposing them to PAH, the lymphoma deaths were halved and the mid-life lung cancers were significantly reduced. This is one of the first studies to suggest that dietary protection against cancer can begin before birth. The researchers warned against taking supplements of IC3 during pregnancy – high doses in the first trimester may cause birth defects. But pregnant women can safely eat lots of broccoli and other types of cruciferous vegetables. The study was published in the October 2006 issue of Carcinogenesis.
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Drink the Tea, Hold the Milk
Black tea doesn’t have quite as many health benefits as green tea, but it can help protect against heart disease and cancer. However, if you add milk to your tea, as the British do, you may miss out on some of the heart protective effects of the flavonoids in tea. In a small study, a team of German researchers found that proteins in milk (caseins) interact with tea, decreasing its content of beneficial flavonoids. For the study, the investigators gave freshly brewed black tea with or without 10 percent skim milk or a cup of plain boiled water to 16 women on three different occasions and then measured the function of cells in the brachial artery in the forearm. They reported that plain, brewed tea significantly improved the ability of the arteries to relax and expand but found that this effect was “completely abolished” when the tea contained skim milk. The team is now comparing the effects of black v. green tea on blood vessel function. The study of the effects of adding milk to tea was published in the Jan. 9th, 2007 online edition of the European Heart Journal.
Mind Your Mood
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RECIPESpicy Garlic Broccoli with Pine Nuts
Opinions vary as to whether broccoli is neutral or cooling. It is often prescribed by Chinese doctors for eye inflammations and nearsightedness.View recipe...
Healthy Nutrition Tip
Courtesy of Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging
Oil for Your Heart: Use extra-virgin olive oil as your main cooking oil and as a replacement for butter or margarine at the table. The monounsaturated fat found in olive oil is good for your cholesterol profile, lowering your risk of heart disease.
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Can anyone recommend a good brush for a Labrador/German shorthair? I have been using what I have around the house and just not happy with them… his hair is silky smooth, but he has a lot of thin fly away hair that I am finding all over the house.Read More...
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